


crash through the surface

by babyitsbeautiful



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Dorne, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Happy Ending, Ocean, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Smut, Then back to enemies ish, Treasure Hunting, Treasure Salvaging, Valyria, Westeros, boat shenanigans, gold - Freeform, then to friends, they're all over the place okay, treasure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:42:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 73,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24920026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babyitsbeautiful/pseuds/babyitsbeautiful
Summary: In which Arya and Gendry have a one night stand and then unknowingly get stuck on a boat together for the foreseeable future while searching for sunken treasure.“You know I really don’t like you very much.” She says with such a disdain in her voice.He laughs because who really does these days, “And I couldn’t care less about that.”Her lust filled eyes suddenly drift down to his lips and that’s all it takes for his entire resolve to break as he crashes his lips against hers.Title from "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
Relationships: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters
Comments: 141
Kudos: 234





	1. rock you like a hurricane

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyyy, I'm back on my shit with a new multi-chapter shitstorm of a fic. Ya'll know the drill. Chapters will be posted whenever I can find the time to write. As of now I don't know the chapter count, BUT I do have most of the plot from beginning to end figured out, so that's something I guess. 
> 
> Songs in this chapter: Beast of Burden- Bette Midler Cover (1984) and Rock You Like A Hurricane by Scorpions (title song)
> 
> *loosely edited.

_My body is burning, it starts to shout_

_Desire is coming, it breaks out loud_

_Lust is in cages 'til storm breaks loose_

_Just have to make it with someone I choose_

**April 21, 2020- 22:43**

Facing herself in the mirror for the umpteenth time since entering, Arya begins to laugh hysterically at her reflection, elated that she’s alone in the women’s washroom and it has nothing to do with her appearance, or possibly lack thereof, what with her mundane outfit choice. No, she cannot help but to cackle at the fact that she is hiding, and from a man of all things.

Arya Stark doesn’t hide from anything. Ever.

And yet, she would rather be alone in the only room in the pub she knows she won’t be bothered rather than face the one thing she’s avoiding. 

All because an over-friendly, giant of a man kept trying to buy her a drink and instead of taking care of the creep herself after the third, ‘ _no, thank you_ ,’ that he just didn’t seem to understand the meaning of, in the familiar way she’s best at, knocking him on his feet with a blunt, _leave me the fuck alone_ , she opted for not causing a scene and just taking some time for herself until he either got the hint, or found someone else to bother with his not so charming, drunken ways of flirtation.

It’s her last night in Storm’s End before she heads out early in the morning for King’s Landing, meeting up with the others at the harbor for their next six month stay out at sea and all she wanted was to watch last night’s Winterfell game she missed on the big screen (this pub being notorious for replays of the hockey games), have a few drinks, and not be fucking bothered.

But apparently, she was asking for too much.

She quickly splashes some water on her face, relinquishing in the chill in brings her and then sighs heavily as she makes her way back out into the public eye, hoping no one sees her return.

Her feet stop abruptly when she notices someone, a _strong_ looking someone sitting in her spot at the end of the bar top and from what she can see, he’s sure to be attractive, with his blue shirt showing off his muscles and the tattoos on his skin.

The same bar stool she’s been sitting in all night, with her beer pushed over to the side like forgotten trash, as if that same seat were not occupied by anyone before he sat down. Clearly it had been because she made sure to strategically place her beer bottle as an indication that the seat was taken, but temporarily empty.

The nerve of this guy. 

She steps slowly over to him and is taken back for a brief moment at how attractive he is, but that doesn’t matter, she was sitting there, watching the game…

The game that he so boldly switched while she was away, leaving her with… well nothing when she returned.

Arya leans against the edge of the bar and watches him closely, his eyes never leaving the flat screen on the wall above the shelves of liquor, “You’re in my seat.”

“Come again?” His eyes remained focus, the images swirling in deep blue as she fights for his attention that is unashamedly elsewhere. 

“That’s my seat, and I was watching the Winterfell game before you switched it.”

“Piss off.” He takes a drink and then screams at the television, blatantly ignoring her polite request.

Heat rises to her cheeks and she bites her tongue. 

“Excuse me? I was sitting here and drinking that beer, you can’t just come in here and do whatever the fuck you want, there is a thing called manners you know?”

He turns to look at her then, the screen changing to a commercial and she swears for a millisecond he has that same look in his eyes when he sees her that she did when she noticed how gorgeous he was. Too bad he’s such a prick.

He says nothing in return before he’s handing her now warm, half drank beer, and grabbing the remote that’s sitting just behind the bar, ultimately turning another t.v. down the way to the Winterfell v. Oldtown game she was watching before she hid from her drunken admirer.

She gives him a snarky grin with a muttered sarcastic thanks as she aims to sit as far away from him as physically possible.

Unlike before, they are now the only two at the bar top and the only ones paying any attention to the hockey games playing on the big screens, the only other patrons at the little hole in the wall being her burly suitor and his friends and another small group, minus the brazenness and all the hair.

She can’t help but to yell out as the fouls are being called left and right and much to her pleasure and her companion’s distaste, she prides herself on keeping him as annoyed with her as possible as she interrupts his own game watching. 

That’s what he gets for being a dick, she thinks smugly to herself as she orders another beer.

Another bad call and another shout from her lips, she watches from her peripheral vision as he turns her way, “Do you mind?”

Without turning his way and a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, she simply says, “I don’t actually,” and then yells again, this time even louder causing him to groan in frustration.

She couldn’t possibly predict what he’d do in return as he sighs and tells her, “Here, since this game is from last night, I’m going to go ahead and tell you that Winterfell loses in overtime. Tarly gave Oldtown their big win. Now, can you please shut up so I can actually enjoy the game that’s live and happening right now?”

She clenches her fists at her sides, both pissed at herself for missing the game live the previous night because she went out with Shireen and at this complete stranger for ruining it for her, “You are such a fucking asshole!”

She hops off the stool and heads back towards the washroom, eager for another moment of quiet and to gather what little restraint she has left of the night to not toss a drink in his smugly beautiful face.

Halfway back to her rather pathetic choice of a place for solace, she turns back around to where he is sitting, watching his back curiously as her eyes roam over their surroundings. A light goes off suddenly in her mind, revenge sweet on the tips of her fingers.

She makes her way slowly back over to near where he is sitting, to the machine that is a mere three feet away.

The only sounds in the entire pub come from the boisterous groups and the games playing on the big screens, but she knows from her many bar experiences that once you feed this machine, the music drowns out everything else and it’s pretty much the only thing you can hear, the rhythmic beats thumping in your ears as the buzz of the alcohol all but forces you to sway along, no matter what song happens to be playing.

And the fact that it’s so close to where he is enchanted with his precious Riverrun game, well that’s just icing on the cake.

She’s notices no one has bothered with the old thing all night, and still when she walks up to it, no one cares enough to pay her any mind, except for the object of her vengeance.

He twists his head slightly to his left as she pushes her coins into the change slot, pressing a few buttons for a shuffle play, not really caring which songs come on as long as they are loud and lively.

The music begins and she’s surprised to find it’s a song she thoroughly enjoys.

**_I'll never be your beast of burden_ **

**_My back is broad but it's a hurting_ **

**_All I want is for you to make love to me_ **

Arya leans back against the machine facing him, a wide smile on her face, a wickedness gleaming in her steel eyes as she watches his jaw clench and tick and if she’s being honest with herself, it’s one of the hottest things she’s ever seen on another human being.

The lyrics flow through her easily as her hips sway along, not caring for a second that she’s causing a scene for herself and as he pushes the bar stool back and stands up, she thinks she’s won.

“You might as well wave your white flag now and give that game up like I was forced to give up mine because I can do this all night.”

Glass hot under her palms, her throat constricts as his eyes lock onto hers, his body gravitating nearer and nearer to where she stands, so close she can feel the heat radiating off him and it’s making her flustered more than she cares to admit.

His body towers over her as he continues to lean in, so close that she can feel his labored breath mix in with breathy sighs, his blue eyes cutting deep into her soul.

But when his head dips low, aligned perfectly with her chest, eyes still locked on tight, she thinks maybe, maybe she’s daydreaming because there is no fucking way this man is…

Her eyes flutter shut as she feels his hand slide past her waist, down her thigh and then the music stops out of nowhere, quieting the space between them dramatically, thus forcing her brain to drop back down to reality.

Grey flashes to blue and she realizes that just behind them to the right, he’s pulled the plug of the jukebox out of the wall with an overzealous force, that jaw ticking again when he stands himself back up, a grin of triumph forming across his lush lips.

Again, she’s left confused, her body not knowing if she wants to hit him or kiss him. Perhaps both.

Which is completely absurd, he’s a total stranger? She doesn’t even know his name and yet he seems to be making his way under her skin like no other. And she has only interacted with him for the past half hour, words barely spoken.

An older man appears behind the bar as he retreats back to his seat, and she subtly wipes her sweaty palms on the shorts of her overalls. She thought a crop top paired with her favorite high waisted overalls would help her keep her body cool while she drank as she always tends to get overheated, but this _blue-eyed asshole_ has her heated in all the right and worst ways possible instead. So much for not being bothered tonight.

“Oi! Come on, G! That’s the third time this month, you’re going to tear up my shit and then I’ll really be pissed.”

Her mind brushes over the fact that his name must start with the letter G and focuses on why in the seven hells would he yank that plug out two other times, and just this month no doubt. He obviously did it this time to both have some quiet to watch the game and to get one over on her. But two can play at _that_ game.

“Angry much?” She folds her arms over her chest, leaning back against the now dead machine, a grin on her face as he scoffs from the bar. If he wants quiet from her, well that’s the last thing she’ll give him.

He shrugs his broad shoulders as nonchalantly as he can as he sips his draft beer from the glass, “They were justified.”

She walks over to the bar and sits in the seat right next to him, her hand cupping her chin facing him, an expression of amused interest amidst her slight buzz, “I think I’ll be the judge of that.”

Arya grins when his face turns to obvious annoyance, meaning her plan is working, “And what makes you think I’m going to tell you about it?”

She rolls her eyes before asking the older man for another drink since he’s standing there and smiling at their interaction, “Humor me. You already ruined my night therefore you need to make up for it.”

“By telling you how pissed off I get at other people in my favorite pub?”

“Well yeah, unless you have something more interesting to tell me and from what I’ve already seen, any story is sure to involve you sitting here brooding and sulky and yelling at anything within three feet that moves.”

The old man laughs but then subtly tries to cover it up with a cough. So, she’s right about his personality, which isn’t surprising considering she’s always been a good judge of character.

The bar keep sets her drink down in front of her and she mumbles a thank you before taking a sip, waiting as the wheels turn in his head. She doesn’t wait long for he probably already had his mind made up to indulge her before he even contested her question in the first place.

The bartender leans back against the counter behind him, “Yeah, G. I was here for the second time, but I had to learn ‘bout the first incident from Jeyne the day after. What the fuck happened?”

He huffs out a long sigh and then relaxes back into his chair, “Some stupid fucking kids came in here all rowdy and loud and shit and started playing some fucker named _Justin Beaver_ or something on that damn thing. Had that shit on repeat for half an hour before I jerked the plug out of the wall. They left not too long after that. So, like I said, it was justified.”

Arya waits for him to finish before she releases a loud belly laugh at his story, “Okay, I’ll give you that one because I likely would have done the same exact thing.” She tips her glass his way before taking a long drink.

She waits a few moments to calm down from the laughter before she continues on, “And the second time?”

He merely shrugs in response before taking another drink of his beer, so she turns to the other man, one eyebrow raised in a silent question, “The thing was working fine all night, people were playing songs without issue, and even music that this one here found tolerable. That is until it started acting up and skipping beats every now and again and instead of fixing it like he should have done, he just unplugs the damn thing. Shit head fixes everything in here that needs fixin’ and yet, he just couldn’t be bothered that night.”

She nods along and then turns to ‘ _G’_ sitting next to her, “Okay, the verdict is in and that particular incident was in fact not justified and it’s ruled that you’re just an asshole.”

He smiles lightly at whatever is playing on the television screen, but she knows it’s for her, almost genuine she thinks, “Never claimed I wasn’t.”

She rolls her eyes again but this time he misses it. _At least he’s honest_ , she thinks to herself. 

The older man she still doesn’t know the name of clears his throat, hands gesturing to the powered down machine.

“Oh, for fucks sake.”

She laughs as he reluctantly gets up and walks over to the machine, getting it ready to be powered back on.

“So, I take it you’re the owner then?”

“Name’s Mott.” He extends his hand and she shakes it politely, “Arry. At least someone here is respectful.”

Blue eyes don’t miss the jab directed his way, “I may be an asshole, but I would never be disrespectful towards a mighty princess like yourself.”

He sits back down, and she winces slightly at the nickname, “Don’t call me that, I promise I’m anything but.”

He chuckles and takes another drink, and she thinks he’s particularly fond of not looking her way for some reason, “Whatever you say, _princess_.”

She punches him in the arm, and he cries out in pain, “What the fuck was that for?”

“For being a shit head. And for spoiling my game.”

She turns back to the tv and notices the Riverland’s game he’s watching only has close to five minutes left so before she can do anything else, she grabs the remote and quickly changes the channel, turning his way to stick her tongue out at him.

“That’s for ruining the Winterfell game for me.”

He drops his head in his hands and runs a palm across his face in exasperation while mumbling, “ _Fucking Northerners_ ,” before stomping off away from the bar.

Despite her victory, she’s conflicted at the way she already misses his presence next to her, his smell lingering in the air and fading with each step he takes. 

***

Despite the fiery little brunette that stormed into his life and ultimately interrupted the game he wanted to watch (even though he knows he deserved it) he’s actually having a pretty good night.

He got to watch most the game and before that he got to catch up with one of his oldest friends before the man had to go and play the tough bar owner that he is, although the crowd this evening, fiery brunette included, isn’t putting up much of a disturbance, unlike other recent nights.

Gendry hates it when stupid fuckers come in and give Tobho a hard time, so he does the first thing that his mind tells him to, he defends his pub and almost all the time causes a small scene. Mott never minded that fact, he always appreciated that Gendry stood up for him and it helped that he is his number one mechanic.

He’s rather glad it’s a calm night, what with it being his last one in town for a while, so when he finds himself alone for the first time since arriving, he takes a few minutes to himself, letting the alcohol settle in his system and taking the time to just breathe.

As far as the brunette _princess_ goes, he’s never met anyone quite like her before, someone that takes his shit and throws it right back at him. If he’s honest with himself, it’s pretty refreshing. He can be himself without the fear that he’s offended her in some way. And if he has, she’s sure to let him know, that he knows for certain despite not knowing her very long.

But still he finds he can’t bring himself to look at her face for too long or stare too deep into her eyes, as it’s very distracting, another thing he’s not used to. Even with his ex-girlfriend.

Even though he came here alone as most of his friends are working tonight, he’s not exactly trying to make _new_ friends the night before he leaves Storm’s End for most of the year. Hell, he’s not actively trying to make new friends _at all_.

Maybe he’ll run into her again here when he comes home.

(He hopes he does.)

Heading back to the bar he notices she’s no longer in the seat next to him or even the seat he stole from her, but at the pool tables towards the other side of the pub, talking and laughing with the quieter group that’s been hanging about since before he arrived. 

Whatever, at least she’ll leave him to drink alone now.

(He wishes she didn’t.)

He sits back down at the bar as Tobho looks at him curiously while he’s drying clean glasses, “Would it kill you to be nice to my customers? Just once.”

“Most likely.”

The brunette walks over to the bar, keeping a significant amount of space between them that he thinks maybe isn’t on purpose which eases the thought that creeps into his head that his attitude might have ran her off somehow.

She orders a drink, some mixed cocktail from the new guy that Mott just hired as the two men remain content in a comfortable silence a few feet away. 

When she catches his eye she gives him a playful smirk before turning her attention elsewhere as Mott’s voice breaks him from his thoughts that were beginning to lead nowhere safe, “I’m going to miss you kid, I know you’ll be safe out there but I’m still going to worry ‘bout ya.”

From the corner of his eye he notices that Tobho’s comment has slithered into her air space and she looks as if she wants to make her own comment on it or ask him about it, but he responds before she gets the chance, “Oh, you know me, always taking care of myself. I’ll be fine old man, save your troubles for someone worthy of ‘em.”

Tobho laughs as he playfully whips the bar towel in his direction before stomping off to the kitchen, leaving him alone at the bar with her for the second time that night.

_Arry_ , he remembers hearing her say.

But that doesn’t matter, he may know her name but he’s not telling her his nor does he feel like diving into the story behind what Tobho said about him, despite her subtle curiosity. By this time tomorrow he’ll be long gone, and all thoughts of grey eyes will only exist in his memory.

She takes her drink back to her new friends. How someone can do that, make friends so easily he’ll never know and he tries to focus on something other than her laugh, which he thinks just so happens to suit her perfectly.

He turns the television to another hockey game, one where he doesn’t care for either team playing so it’s easy to get lost in the motions rather than the actual competition of the sporting event.

Sure, enough not even ten minutes later, her voices filters through everything else and he finds himself slightly turned in his chair so he can catch a quick glimpse of her across the room.

She’s been hanging around this group of twenty somethings ever since he left her at the bar the first time but despite falling easily into the crowd, there’s one bloke in particular that seems to be reading her politeness differently as he keeps trying to touch her in ways she’s clearly uncomfortable with, but too nice to let it show.

He can see it and he doesn’t like it.

As two people from the small group of only four walks away to play music on the now fixed jukebox, he takes the opportunity to make his way over to where the others are crowded around the pool table, not bothering to be subtle about bumping into the douchebag bothering Arry and _accidentally_ spilling some of his own beer down the guy’s shirt, to which he turns his attention away from Arry and focuses his rage on Gendry instead just like he wanted, “What the fuck, mate?”

“Oh sorry, I didn’t see you there, better go clean that up before it ruins the fabric my friend.” He claps him on the shoulder feigning a sympathetic smile.

He’s seen that kind of shirt before from the crowd his father hangs around and knows how expensive it is, and he honestly could not feel bad about it if he tried.

The other guy stalks off with his friend leaving him alone with Arry who looks like she could strangle him right about now.

“I could have handled him myself you know, if I were that uncomfortable with his advances, he’d be crying in pain on the floor right now,” she states matter-of-factly causing him to smile at her tenacity.

Before he can respond, a very large, veryy hair man from the other crowd in the pub walks up to them looking both confused and angry, “Oh so you can talk to Maroon Five here but not me?”

He tries to grab her by the arm but she jerks her elbow away before he can tighten his grip and he gets an idea in his head on how to get them both out of this guy’s mindset without feeling the repercussions personally, “Hey mate, you should have heard what this guy said about you earlier.”

He leans into to whisper that way she cannot hear what he is saying as he makes up some bullshit that has the big man seeing red, “He said what?!”

The music begins to play, but his anger is deafening.

In the blink of an eye he turns to the group Arry was just interacting with, eyes set on the man Gendry spilt his beer on, “You’re dead!”

Well fuck him, he didn’t mean for him to get _that_ angry.

Fists start flying from all parties, and suddenly Gendry realizes that him and Arry are stuck right in the middle of the brawl he just unintentionally started in his favorite pub.

The damages will be high but once he gets back to Westeros, he hopes to have enough money to cover the expenses for Tobho.

As a husky woman throws a small guy down onto the wooden table in front of them, splitting the wood instantly, he grabs Arry by the hand and leads her into a safe space near the washrooms as they watch the scene unfold in front of them, the noise having yet to alert the owner of its presence.

With having to maneuver discreetly through the crowd, they didn’t get out without landing a punch or two of their own so by the time they make it to safety, their adrenaline is pumping and the tension from before is higher than ever.

“So, is this normal for you? Just starting bar fights whenever you feel like it?” She’s breathing hard and a little sweaty and it’s making all the blood in his brain flood south.

“Okay, for one, _princess_ , I didn’t start this on purpose, I was trying to keep that guy from harassing you! And two, you’re welcome.”

His heart rate increases as the fight escalates, “I told you I could handle myself you stupid stubborn dickhead!”

Gods, he doesn’t need this right now. Some spoiled princess ruining his last night home.

“Are you always this fucking unappreciative?” He turns to her with his fury burning and the electricity flowing around them changes instantly into a charge so strong, he finds his feet moving towards her all on their own and hers seeming to do the same, bodies so close he can feel the heat pulsating between them.

His blue eyes darken as does her own grey and suddenly the lyrics playing sound differently as they ring through his buzzing ears.

**_The wolf is hungry, she runs the show_ **

**_She's licking her lips, she's ready to win_ **

**_On the hunt tonight for love at first sting_ **

****

“You know I really don’t like you very much.” She says with such a disdain in her voice.

He laughs because who really does these days, “And I couldn’t care less about that.”

Her lust filled eyes suddenly drift down to his lips and that’s all it takes for his entire resolve to break as he crashes his lips against hers and molds his body over her own, now pressed hard against the wall behind her, his hands gripping her waist so tight, he’s sure to leave a mark.

As her hands fists themselves in his hair, he releases a groan and lifts her up so that her legs are wrapped around his waist, his hands wandering all over her body taking and touching as much as she’ll allow him.

Thank all the sevens you don’t have to actually like someone to have an ungodly amount of sexual desire for them and right now, he’s never wanted to do anything more than he wants to drive himself deep inside of her body.

And so, when she opens the door behind her to let him guide her in privacy, they both know he is about to do just that.

He kicks the door shut with his foot and sets her on the next to the sink, pulling he straps of her overalls down as she works his belt buckle, using her leg against his backside as leverage to get his jeans down as soon as possible.

He takes the material and adds the lacey fabric underneath in the palm of his hand, pulling it all down together with one swift motion.

It’s only when she gets his own down and his rock-hard cock springs to life does he realize something important they’re missing, “I don’t have prot…”

She cuts him off with a finger to his lips, “I’m safe on all counts, you?”

The only thing he can do is nod with her index finger still pressed against his face and he has the sudden urge to take it into his mouth, “Good, cause I will literally murder you.”

Why is that turning him on so much?

“Noted. Can I fuck you now?”

She doesn’t reply with words but rather takes his cock in hand, giving him a few leisurely strokes, and when she licks her hand before pumping him a few times, his arousal grows tenfold and his lips are suddenly on her neck, sucking and biting marks into her soft skin.

Satisfied with her motions she’s guiding him to her folds, and he teases her in return by stroking himself against her pink flesh without actually entering her.

Arry grabs a fist of his hair pulling hard and god he could come right then and there, “Stop fucking teasing me and just fuck me already.”

“Yes, princess.”

She opens her mouth to respond but no words come out as he slams into her, _hard_ , and he watches with a smug grin as her eyes roll into the back of her head and she’s rendered speechless.

His strokes are slow at first as she struggles to hold onto the granite countertop but as the tension grows and his belly recoils, he picks up his pace and she can’t help but to hold him by the arms as he slams into her over and over against, bodies slick with sweat, the only sound flesh on flesh and her loud moans.

“Fuck, that feels so good. Don’t stop.”

He couldn’t even if he wanted to. The euphoria from fucking her into oblivion has a hold so strong on him a meteor could come crashing down and he still wouldn’t be able to tear his body away from hers.

He’s close. Oh so very close and when she looks into his eyes and says, “Come for me,” his resolve breaks yet again and soon he’s spilling himself inside her, his thumb stroking her clit sending her over the edge right along with him with groans of pure pleasure.

Once their breathing returns to normal, they help each other clean themselves up with a content silence.

He takes a deep breath and steps back from where she leans back against the sink as he stares into her grey eyes, lust and desire still lingering like the aftermath of a hurricane. He grabs her hand and musters the confidence in his hoarse, _just had the best sex of his life_ , voice, “Follow me.”

He leads her back through the bar, the crowd having disbursed from the brawl not too long ago he thinks, a sure result of Tobho intervening no doubt. He lays a few bills on the bar and then walks them both outside into the cool, salty spring air.

As they walk down the street to his apartment, a mere two blocks away, she finally asks what he’s been waiting on her to ask since they left the bar, “Where are we going?”

“Back to my apartment. It’s not too far.”

He wants to fuck her properly in a bed and if she has any complaints about that, well she’s keeping them to herself and his heart picks up rhythm when he sees the hint of a smile form on her lips.

At least if she ends up staying longer than necessary, he’ll have an excuse to ask her to leave, what with him leaving town in a few hours and all. Even if he doesn’t get much sleep, he can always sleep on the boat.

The short walk didn’t take as long as he thought it would and soon enough, he finds himself on shaky ground trying to get his key in the door, anticipation rattling every nerve ending in his body. He just fucked her in a pub washroom and _now_ he’s nervous?

But once they’re inside the and door is shut and locked back, all anxiety flies out the window when she crashes her lips against his once more.

Deja-vu rattles his brain as she’s pulling him inside and he’s kicking the door shut with his foot, but this time instead of setting her on a sink, he’s wrapping her legs around his waist and walking them into his bedroom. His thankfully _clean_ bedroom.

This time around he wants her on top of him so when he reaches his bed, he turns around quickly and sits, having her straddle him.

She licks her way up his neck and bites his ear in appreciation and a shiver runs down his spine at the feel of her mouth wandering all over his stubbled skin.

No, he was wrong. He wants to do something else first.

He flips her over on her back and she laughs lightly as she bounces on his mattress. He takes his time in ridding her of her clothes, his fingers tracing lightly over her highly sensitive skin.

She sits up on her elbows and takes off her strapless bra, completing the process of having her bare on his bed.

His lips kiss her thigh as his hands spread her legs open for him, his breath hot on her pulsating cunt.

He wants to tease her, to make it last, but the need to taste her outweighs that want and his tongue licks up her folds, sucking, and nipping and causing her to make the best sounds he thinks he’s ever heard.

She tastes like a salty heaven. Like seawater after a storm, all heavy and calm at the same time.

His mouth works against her frantically, itching to get another orgasm out of her before they come again together as one and when she grips his sheets and her thighs clench on either side of his head, he thinks that a night out was the best decision he’s made in a long time. She comes on his tongue and he laps up every last drop of her arousal before wiping his mouth dry and standing up to relieve himself of his own clothes, evening the playing field.

Her eyes darken as his cock is released from his boxers, and before he can tell her what he wants, she’s pushing him down onto his bed and sitting on his lap once more.

“You are so fucking _hot_.” She says as she sheaths herself down onto his erection, burying every inch of him inside her and wiggling to get that friction they both crave.

“Thank you, princess.” He knows how much she hates that, but he just can’t help himself. He’d rather have hot angry sex than sex that could lead to feelings and that’s not on the table for him right now. This way is better.

With every move of her hips, she whispers each word with a breathy sigh, “Don’t. call. me. that.”

She picks up her pace and it is mind blowing how good it feels for him. Never in his life as someone made him feels like this in bed and if he’s not careful, he’s going to let himself get addicted to her touch at the very moment he shouldn’t.

He slaps her ass as she grinds on him and he grips the flesh as her palms lay flat on his hairy, tattooed covered chest, letting her hips and thighs do most of the work.

“Fuck yes,” he manages to get out as she moves a little different, hitting a sweet spot for both of them and he thinks they are both so close once more.

He slows her down long enough to match her thrusts, pounding up into her swollen, pink folds and gods does he never want this to end.

“Come for me _, Arry_.”

He should be bothered by the fact that she doesn’t even know his full first name, but he isn’t.

Perhaps it’s better that way.

The cord snaps and she’s coming all over his cock as he thrusts a few more times before his own release gives way and he’s ejaculating inside her, giving her as much as he can give, only to have it trickle down her thigh when she slides off of him.

“You know this is like a one-time thing, right?”

“Of course.” He responds easily. Oh, thank Gods she doesn’t want more.

She heads straight for his bathroom and he thinks that maybe she’ll clean herself up and then leave. So, He puts his phone on charge and gets comfortable enough to get a few hours of sleep before he leaves town at sunrise.

By the time sleep takes hold, he’s not sure whether she’s still there or not, but he finds he’s okay with that either way.

*********************************************

This wasn’t her intention for how this night was going to go, and yet she can’t complain. She just had the best sex of her life and three orgasms from a man that she doesn’t even know the full name of. But somehow, she finds that that fact does not scare her like it probably should. Yes, he’s an asshole. But she has good intuition when it comes to people and she knows that he’s _good_ , that he’s _safe._ And that whatever happened with them tonight will be a good memory. But only that. She does not plan to ever see him again after she leaves town, but maybe if the future allows it, they can pick up where they left off tonight.

Fully satisfied and sated, she emerges from the bathroom and sees that her companion for the night has already fallen fast asleep and she realizes that she’s too worn out to have the energy to walk back to the bar, get her car and then drive back to Shireen’s place.

So, she sends her friend a quick text instead telling her she’s found an alternate arrangement and that she’ll call her the minute she gets back to Westeros.

Once the text sends, she gets an alert that her phone is low on battery percentage, so she quietly makes her way to the nightstand beside his bed and unplugs his phone to plug hers in.

 _I’ll be gone early anyway, he can just plug his back in after I leave_ , she thinks to herself as she crawls into the sheets next to him, careful to keep some space between them so she doesn’t accidentally wake him up.

Despite being dog tired, thoughts of blue eyes and curious lips drift into her mind before it finally lands somewhere into sweet, peaceful bliss. 

***

She wakes slowly, eyes fluttering open to the soft sunlight just peeking over the horizon.

She’s supposed to meet Mya at the docks in King’s Landing at seven o’clock and knows that if she doesn’t get up soon, she’ll be late since it’s an hour drive.

Arya tiptoes out of the well slept in queen sized bed, the only noise coming from _G’s_ soft intakes of even breaths and walks over to check the time on her phone.

She curses to herself in a frustrated whisper when she realizes it’s two minutes past six am and that she’s going to be late if she doesn’t leave right now.

Thankfully she had the right idea to pack her things in her car before she went to the bar last night so all she has to do now is get dressed and get on the road, preferably _before_ he wakes up and ultimately makes the _morning after_ an awkward moment neither of them will know how to get out of without making things even more uncomfortable.

Dressed and ready, she takes her phone off his charger and steps backward towards his door as quietly as she can manage and within just a few minutes, she’s sliding into the driver seat of her car, eager to put him and Storm’s End in her rear view mirror, nothing but the warm ocean in her future and in her heart.

***

Exactly an hour later, she’s parking her car exactly where her sister told her to park and then hiding her keys under the floor mat before pulling her bags out of the trunk.

Sansa is supposed to pick it up later and park it at her house so that it doesn’t get towed sitting at the marina for the next several months.

Moving away from the parking lot and towards the water, she sees her best friend and partner in deep diving crime waiting for her against the railing, assuming the others are already waiting on Tywin’s yacht.

Except maybe Rickon, he’s always late. 

“You’re never late Stark. I’m disappointed in you.” Mya crosses her arms over her chest and gives her a disappointing, albeit amused smirk.

“Oh, shut up, it’s only five minutes. I uh, didn’t set my alarm last night.” She feels the blush rise to her cheeks and does not get away without Mya noticing as she balances the weight back and forth on her feet.

“Oh, my Gods, you hooked up with someone last night, didn’t you!”

She rolls her eyes but decides to indulge her curiosity anyway, “Yes I did actually, but it’s too early to get into that, I’ll tell you about it later. Let’s go.”

Mya does not move, “Okay, so here’s the thing. Pyp’s girlfriend is pregnant, found out two days ago so he’s not coming.”

Arya nods and thinks it over, “So who’s going to be our mechanic? Hot Pie could help out, but he’ll be too busy in his fortress of solitude where all the food is and if something major happens, we’re fucked.”

They both laugh at that and then Mya says, “No, I found a replacement, my brother should be here soon.”

She glances at her watch and then makes a face, “I think.”

“Edric? Seriously? That boy can’t even fix his own shit without need professional help.”

“Not, Edric. The one you haven’t met yet.” Mya giggles at the Edric comment.

“Oh right, the other one. What’s his name again?”

“Gendry.”

“Gendry. Right.” She shakes her head and then shrugs, “Well I’m going to put my stuff up and then I’ll come wait with you and keep you company.”

“And tell me about this tryst last night.”

Arya walks towards the boat and does a little spin on the way, turn briefly back to Mya, “Maybe,” before setting her sights on the vessel that’s going to take them down to Dorne where the real adventure will begin.

She throws her bags down on the couch just beside the ladder and then makes her way back towards Mya on the pier.

As she gets closer she can hear Mya talking to someone, a man’s voice sounds in the distant and he’s standing behind her so she can’t see his face but when she gets closer and sees him fully in person, her heart stops beating and drops down to her stomach, “You!”

G is standing right there, next to Mya and damn do they look alike. The man that she was just naked in bed with a mere two hours ago is here. Right now.

He looks just as shocked to see her, “You! You unplugged my damn phone last night and it was dead when I woke up, I couldn’t even call Mya to let her know I was going to be late.”

He’s pissed. Fuck, she’s in so much trouble.

Realization dawns on the eldest Baratheon instantly and she releases a very loud laugh, causing them both to turn her way with scowls on their faces, “Gendry is the one that you hooked up with last night?”

“You told her about that? Wait, _who are you_?”

Her eyes widen and anger burns in her throat, “I didn’t know you were related for fuck’s sake. Seven Hells, I didn’t even know your full name until like right now, _Gendry_.”

She waves her arms to gesture the space between them, now filled with the same awkwardness she was dreading before she even got out of (his) bed.

Despite the shock still coursing through her veins, another truth hits her right in the face, “Hold on, he’s the mechanic you got to replace Pyp?”

Mya’s steady _Yes_ has her wanting to crawl into a hole and die.

Her one-night stand, the asshole she hooked up with on a drunken hate whim is about to get on a boat with her where they are going to be in close quarters with each other in the middle of the ocean for the next six months.

Fucking perfect.


	2. come sail away with me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unfortunate accident, a round of introductions, and a tall tale. 
> 
> "Come Sail Away" by Styx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I wrote this in one day, I'm super excited about this fic and my muse is killing it.

**_I'm sailing away_ **

**_Set an open course for the Virgin Sea_ **

**_'Cause I've got to be free_ **

**_Free to face the life that's ahead of me_ **

****

**April 22, 2020 -- 07:34**

“Seriously, why the fuck did you take my phone off the charger last night?”

That’s what he’s worried about in their current predicament? Not the obvious? Whatever.

“In my defense, I really needed my phone to be charged so I could wake up on time without it going dead beforehand AND considering we were in _your_ apartment and I had no idea of any of the details of your personal schedule, I just figured you’d wake up, plug it back in, and then go back to sleep. I swear my intentions with that were innocent, okay. Besides, how was I supposed to know we’d be going to the same exact place come morning, huh? We weren’t exactly keen on talking much then, stupid.”

She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest in an exasperated fashion, hoping he lays off about the stupid charger incident and focuses on the fact that they just slept together, can’t get along without arguing for more than two seconds and are expected to go on this trip now. She really hopes he backs out at the last minute, she can find a replacement sure, someone that doesn’t hold such hostility towards her, but if he decides to stick it out, well that’s something she’s not sure she can handle.

Not only because they slept together and that’s bound to cause tension, but because they really _really_ don’t seem to like each other.

Arya glances back at Mya who is desperately trying not to laugh at them both, “I’m just going to get on the boat and let you two figure whatever this is out for yourselves.”

She grabs Gendry’s bags and heads towards the yacht, leaving them alone for the first time since she snuck out of his apartment less than a few hours ago.

After watching Mya walk up the dock, she turns back to Gendry with a sigh, “If you’re getting on that boat, we need to get a few things straight first.”

He gives her a smug grin with smoldering blue eyes as he takes a conscious step towards her to which she blocks with a firm hand in the air in the minimal space between them, “First, last night was a one time thing and it won’t be happening again. We scratched an itch, that’s it. Second, said itch scratching won’t be mentioned again, got it? Everything with us is to be remained professional. This is my family,” she points back to the boat while keeping her eyes steady on him, “and you in particular,” she sighs and closes her eyes for a brief second, “well you don’t seem like you’re big on making friends and I’m not interested in you in any other way than needing you to be a mechanic on this mission. You’re Mya’s brother and that fact alone is enough for me to remain civil with you, so you better not fuck this up. She’s counting on you and therefore so am I.”

Something in his once playful demeanor changes instantly as he reflects on what his response to her little speech will be, “You’re right. Making friends and small talk with a bunch of strangers isn’t really my thing so you don’t have to worry about me intruding on your little family up there.”

Sometime during her rant, she let her hand drop from mid-air and he takes the opportunity while she’s susceptible to invade her space again, “And as far as this thing between you and me? I didn’t hate last night, and from what I recall neither did you.”

He leans down, his breath hot on her face and she struggles to remain content with how close he is and how fucking _brilliant_ his blue eyes are right now just inches from her own, “In fact, if you did hate it, you hated it at least _three_ times, and if I’m being completely honest, you can hate me again anytime you want, _princess_.”

Fuck, he’s good. But she’s better and she knows it.

In a quick reversal, she has him stumbling subtly backwards as she saunters towards him until he’s stopped on the opposite side of the dock, with nowhere else to go, “Is that right?”

Her hands trail over his body, down his torso and then over the cargo shorts he’s wearing, seeking out anything that might hinder her from executing her next move without unwanted repercussions and then back up again until they are planted firmly on his muscled chest, his heart thumping erratically under her fingertips.

He smiles down at her, feeling triumphant no doubt, “Change your mind already?”

Her eyes roam over where her hand rests before looking at him fiercely, “Not exactly.”

Since his guard is totally let down, it takes little effort for her to give him a decent push backwards until his feet tumble out from under him and he’s flailing into the cold water below.

She laughs as he rises to the surface quicker than she thought he would with a very loud, very angry, shout of profanities and an angry glare in her direction.

Arya rests her hands on her hips, “Oh, good. You can swim.” 

She backs up and feigns a very serious look on her face as he attempts to get out of the water, “It’s very important to know how to swim on this trip.” 

She walks away but yells back over her shoulder before he’s no longer able to hear her, “Please do try to keep the deck up there dry, okay? Don’t want any slip and fall accidents on the first day.”

She does a quick spin to see that he’s back on the dock, trying to shake the water out of his shaggy hair and drenched clothes.

This might be more fun than she thought, after all.

***

If he hadn’t been so busy trying (and failing) to get under her skin by flirting with her, perhaps he would have seen that coming and been able to prevent it somehow.

His hopes aren’t exactly let down either, he wasn’t naïve enough to think that he could have her in his bed again, no matter where that bed might be so the fact that she stated that last night was a one time thing between them comes as no surprise to him whatsoever.

Only the fact that the one person he decided to sleep with the night before leaving town actually turned out to be someone that would be leaving town right along side with him. That definitely threw him for a loop, but as usual, he bounces back quickly from the disastrous blows, life likes to throw his way every now and again.

He made a promise to his sister and he intends on keeping that promise.

He tries to squeeze as much water from the Bay out of his clothes as he can before walking up the stairs to board the yacht Mya said they are sailing down to Dorne, where their actual ship awaits.

Mya spots him instantly from the small couch her and Arya sit on, laughing loudly as Arya merely smirks mockingly at him, “What the bloody hell happened to you?”

Before he can respond with a version of the truth, Arya chimes in for him, “Oh, Gendry and I were just catching up when he slipped and fell. Such an unfortunate accident.”

If looks could kill, she’d be dead on the deck and this trip would appear to be a lot more pleasant.

He simply groans in response and walks over to where a stack of beach towels lay, picking up one with a dramatic angry snatch as Arya snickers beside his sister.

In his haste to dry off, he didn’t notice the woman nearest to him until she’s introducing herself as Yara Greyjoy, the climate and navigation specialist of them all, what with her experience as a former Naval captain being crucial to their time at sea. He makes his greeting short and simple, introducing himself as Mya’s brother and the mechanic that is replacing the former, whom he cared to know nothing about. As she accepts the short conversation and walks away, he thinks that maybe his companions on here won’t be as nearly as annoying as he assumed, they would be.

Almost dry from his unfortunate accident earlier, Gendry continues to towel his hair and watches as a young man with curly light auburn hair and bright blue eyes, clearly the youngest of them so far, runs up to him with a steady hand out ready to shake, “Hey mate, names Rick.”

The amount of enthusiasm the boy holds is endearing, and he’s not as put off by it as he normally would be.

He shakes Rick’s hand firmly, impressed by the strong grip the young man holds, “Gendry Baratheon.”

“You met Arya yet?” He says with a genuine smile.

Gendry thinks of the night before, of wandering hands and tasteful lips, smirking smugly to himself, “Yes, we met last night actually. Very, very _thoroughly_.”

He watches as Rick winces and recoils from the implications of that statement, “Dude, that’s my fucking sister! Gross.”

His own signature Baratheon blue eyes widen in shock, “Wait, what?!” In the midst of talking about the familial connection he shared with Mya, she failed to mention that her own brother would be joining them as well. Perhaps that’s why she got so defensive about him coming in here and messing with her family. Obviously, she meant that in a figuratively way when she spoke, he just didn’t think she could have meant it so literally too. Part of his mind wanders to how much he has yet to know about Arya, but he forces himself to remain in the here and now.

He can’t find any obvious similarities between the two, so that revelation definitely throws him for a loop.

“Yeah, I’m Rickon Stark, Arya is my older sister. Damn, do you not know anything? I should punch you in the face right now.”

Rickon clenches and unclenches his fists, giving his knuckles a few pops, not knowing what exactly to do with his hands at that moment, it is almost as if he’s undecided on whether or not to defend Arya’s honor and knock him out one good time.

But his face remains passive, no ticking of the jaw to indicate his anger is really threatening.

“So, do you want to punch me because I fucked your sister or because you think you should, as to uphold some ‘protective brother’ standard that tells you that’s what you should do?”

Arya may call him stupid, but he’s very far from it.

Rickon takes a step back as his face scrunches in confusion, perplexed on something he didn’t realize he needed to contemplate, “Uh, both I guess? I don’t know, I just don’t want to hear about you fucking my sister.”

Gendry laughs to himself, not able to hide the smile breaking across his face, “Duly noted, mate.”

Rickon visibly shakes off the awkward moment as he changes the subject and this time Gendry doesn’t mind indulging him, “So you’re the new mechanic, right? Mya’s younger brother?”

“That’s me. Not really sure what’s going on around here, she didn’t give any specifics when she asked me to come.”

“Cool. It’s my first time here too so you’re not alone with being the only new guy. Arya’s always gone so this is the first real time we’ve spent together since she left for uni.”

They lean side by side against the side of the boat and watch the other boats in the harbor come and go,   
“I just got my license to be a certified scuba instructor. I’m the only other Stark that loves being in the water as much as Arya, so I was thrilled when she asked me to join. I’ve heard about her past adventures but it’s nothing like being here in person. I’m fucking _stoked_.”

Gendry’s eyes catch Arya’s across the way and she’s looking at him as if he’s a dangerous predator she needs to protect her brother from, something he thinks must be a northern thing, or maybe just a signature Stark thing.

Either way, he gives her a shy small smile back to let her silently know that she has nothing to worry about, but as he assumed, she doesn’t look too convinced.

“Hey, sorry about your dad, mate.”

He meets Rickon’s own blue eyes and tries to focus on what he just said. His dad, right.

“Don’t be, we weren’t exactly close. Best thing I got from him was my sister.”

He needs to change the subject again before Rick starts to get into things that are far too personal, even more than he already has but he’s not going to judge him for the sincere comment on his recently deceased father.

He supposes that his sudden closed off body language hints to the young Stark that he doesn’t really want to talk about it anymore so Rickon walks away with only a sad smile and not another word.

He watches solemnly as the sun rises higher in the sky, the early morning sunrise turning into a bright blue reflected view on Blackwater Bay, the day beginning a new adventure.

The crew, team, whatever they call themselves here all seem to gravitate towards Arya as she talks animatedly to them, about what he’s not sure, but when the conversation seems to die down, he walks over and asks something that seems quite obvious at this point to any outsider, “So, _Arya_ ,” he contemplates calling her by her most hated nickname but thinks better of it before the word slips out, “I take it that you’re the captain of these lovely sea urchins here.”

She gives him a warm smile, unlike all the smug ones she’d been throwing at him all morning, “Nope.”

He thinks back to everyone he’s met and tries to recall if anyone had mentioned being the captain, he’s really got to start listening to people when they’re speaking to him, “Then who is?”

“I am.” He turns to the strong, soft voice and is met with a beautiful, dark-skinned woman with strikingly pretty eyes and a happy smile, “I’m Missandei, the captain.”

He shakes her hand and nods accordingly as Arya and Mya join her on either side where she stands, “And we’re her first mates. In so many ways. Mates, friends, right hand women, warrior sisters… The list goes on.” Mya says happily while the three women stand before him.

“Missandei is also an expert in marine biology.” Also good to know.

Seeing the three of them together is surprisingly intimidating and he supposes that when they really want to be, they can be absolutely deadly.

“Is this everyone then?” He looks around as his sister follows his eyes around the deck of the boat.

“No! I almost forgot…” She trails off and grabs Arya by the hand, leading her away from the others and expecting him to follow, to which he reluctantly does.

They head down into the lower part of the yacht where the cabins and kitchen are located, only to find one other person that’s not a member of the crew, something else he needs to find out more about.

Standing at the stove in the small kitchen is a chubby man with dark curly hair stirring a large pot that actually smells quite amazing, but he doesn’t say that out loud.

“Gendry, this is Hot Pie, our resident chef extraordinaire.” Mya introduces the cook and Gendry scoffs at his unusual name.

Arya ignores the slight jab and continues for his sister, “Hot Pie is an amazing chef and does all our cooking, so you’ll mostly find him in the kitchen.”

“So, is that all you do around here Hot Pot?”

Instead of correcting him, Hot Pie gives him a mean scowl, “Are you always such an asshole?”

Gendry and Arya in unison say “ _Yes_ ,” before looking at the other and then back at Hot Pie.

“Well if you must know, I am severely allergic to jellyfish stings, so I tend to avoid the ocean when possible. If I die, I can’t feed you, so suck it up and leave me be, alright? If it wasn’t for your sister’s former medical training and quick thinking, I probably would already be dead right now.”

Gendry clears his throat and regrets the sly comment, “Fair enough. It’s uh,” he rubs the back of his neck nervously, trying to simmer the urge to run, “nice to meet you _Hot Pie_.”

He nods and then heads back upstairs at a casual pace, Mya and Arya following closely behind after confirming with him that they’ll see him again later when lunch is ready.

Once they’re back with the others, he has questions that he needs answers to, and so he begins before anything else happens.

“I’m a little confused on something. This is the nicest fucking yacht I’ve ever been on, there’s a whole crew waiting on you hand and foot and not one of you all seems to bat an eye at that fact. Who pays for all this fancy shit? And for the actual boat you use to salvage the treasure. I know it’s not a cheap escapade, so spill.”

There has to be a reason that his sister was very short on her details when she asked him to come along, he needs to know why.

Mya and Arya exchange a weary look and the sudden unease he feels hits him like a freight train, “Tywin Lannister.”

And there it is.

He’s pissed that Mya kept this from him, but now he knows why. If she had told him from the beginning he would have flat out refused her offer without thinking twice about it. She knows of his ill feelings towards all things Lannister and that retched family.

“Tywin is the bank basically. He funds this whole operation, and he pays us generously for it. He’s not as evil as everyone makes him out to be. Sure, he’s still a power, money hungry old white guy, but there’s something decent to him that a lot of people don’t see. But that’s not the point, we don’t really give a shit about Tywin or his family, he’s simply a business partner in an arranged agreement, that’s it.”

Mya’s explanation makes him feel better about this whole ordeal, but only slightly.

He turns to Arya who helps guide his sister along in their tale, “Look, Tywin doesn’t care about the treasure, he only cares about having the name put on it. He’s already rich so the rewards don’t matter to him, he just likes having something to brag about with his name over a bunch of plaques at the museums. We’re here for the love of the adventure and being out there in the water. We get the adrenaline rush we crave and a nice payday and he gets the ribbon cutting in front of all the press, it’s a win-win for all of us.”

He remembers that this isn’t Mya’s first, or even second time being out on the ocean.

“How many times have you guys done this?”

“This will be our fourth time out there.” Yara Greyjoy says for the lot of them.

“The first time was a complete fail. We underestimated how vast the open ocean was, what resources we would need and the kind of crew we would need to pull something like this off. So after, ultimately getting our shit together, we tried again. Took us four months into our second time to even come close to our first real find. We went back to shore, stocked up, recalculated our plan, and went back at it. Six months later, Tywin opened his first wing at the Westerosi History Museum and we each got our cut that was well worth the wait.”

Arya looks back at him, “We have it worked out to where this time around, we spend one weekend a month on an Essos coast re-supplying and relaxing. If everything goes to plan, we expect this time to take about six months, assuming our source is as accurately located as he claims this ship-wreck to be.”

Rickon looks at his sister with a curious expression, “It’s Bran, Arya. Of course it’s bloody accurate.”

Gendry vaguely remembers hearing about that on the news, a new wing set in Lannister’s name for the recently discovered ship-wreck of an 1800’s dowry that went down somewhere off the coast of Braavos.

Whichever sunken ship they’re after now use be pretty damn important for them to be out here risking it all for another potential failure. Mya told him that time was unknown on this mission, he supposes that time means nothing to them, or even him now in this game.

He wants to ask for the story behind what exactly it is they’re after, but a member of the crew interrupts their story before he gets the chance, “Sorry ladies and gentlemen but it seems we’ll be departing soon, are we waiting on any other passengers?”

“No, thank you, Tom, this is everyone.” Missandei tells the staff before grabbing Yara and Rickon and heading off towards the opposite side of the yacht.

He watches as Arya heads down stairs, assuming to tell Hot Pie that they’ll be taking off soon, leaving him alone on deck with his older sister.

“If you want to bail, you better do it now because we’re not stopping again until we get to Dorne.”

Gendry half-heartedly laughs at her comment, “I’m not going anywhere, I told you I’d help and I meant it.”

Mya gives him a warm smile in return as Arya joins them again, a serious gleam in her grey eyes, “You better make sure you’re okay with that decision. You know shit can get pretty dangerous out there. And those sharks don’t give a shit if you’re scared of them or not, they’ll still eat you alive, almost got me the second time we went out there.”

He watches her face carefully and doesn’t see a hint of amusement on her features, causing him mild alarm as she continues.

She raises her leg up, showing them the scar she has wrapped around her right ankle, indentions permanently marred into the skin that resemble bite marks, “Got too close one day and he didn’t like that, went right for my leg but only got my foot before I punched him square in the eye, causing damage long enough for him to let go and for me to swim back to the boat. Mya had to stitch me up but I was back under the sea the next day.” She shrugs nonchalantly before walking away again leaving him utterly speechless and throughly impressed by her survival skills.

He turns to his sister when she begins to laugh at him, “You know she’s just fucking with you right? Her scar is from getting caught in a bear trap running through the woods when she was nine. She never fought off a shark, Gendry.”

_That little…_ he shakes his head and closes his eyes, all the while his sister continues to laugh at his reaction.

“She was just trying to scare you and from the look on your face, I think she succeeded.”

He swallows thickly while watching the small brunette across the way, a nervous lump rising in his throat and that same flustered feeling from the night before coming back to take over his senses as his heart rate increases, “Oh, I’m fucking terrified.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 👀 is our boy catching feelings? 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	3. a bull without horns said nothing, so how come I'm blushing?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rickon chimes in in between bites of food, “We may be scoundrels of the sea, mate. But we’re not stupid. Of course, we do our research first and know exactly what we are after, it’s the where part that’s a little tricky.” 
> 
> Ahay by Of Monsters and Men

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to make a note about the ages. So everyone apart from Rickon who about 22, all the characters rage from 27 (Arya) to 33 (Yara, oldest)  
> It's not really something that comes up per say, just still wanted you to be aware.

**_You think you know me_ **

**_But do you really?_ **

**_There's something 'bout you_ **

**_Something 'bout you_ **

**_We don’t talk about it_ **

**April 22, 2020 13:07**

“You can’t be serious? You’re the exact reason I’ve already been in the water once today and now you want me to get it in again after I’ve already dried off?”

Arya looks at Gendry impatiently, waiting for him to make his point because she can’t understand how he doesn’t get what she’s asking of him. It’s a simple thing really. Just jump off the top of the yacht and into the bay, it’s not a hard request and he’s being way over dramatic about the whole thing.

After a beat she rolls her eyes and huffs in annoyance, “You have to, it’s tradition. Before we take off, we all hold hands and jump. It’s like a trust exercise, to know we’ll have each other’s backs out there, if you don’t, you’re basically saying you’re not trustworthy.”

Yara walks up to where the others are ready and waiting, the last to arrive for the jump, “It’s true. We had to kick one guy out our second time around because he wouldn’t jump, turned out he was shady as fuck anyway, got arrested for robbing a hotel a few days after we booted him to the curb.”

Gendry clenches his jaw and then turns back to Arya who states, “Hey, at least I let you change into something more suitable this time.”

Mya, Hot Pie, Missandei line up on the other side of them as Rickon switches places with Yara so he can be next to his sister, “Yeah, mate. It’s fun, don’t be so uptight about it. The sooner we jump, the sooner we can eat, isn’t that right Hot Pie?”

Gendry tosses his attention over to the chef who merely nods his head and gives an enthusiastic thumbs up in response as he bounces up and down in place ready for the plunge.

“Fine, fine. I’m not about to let you all think you can’t trust me on day one.”

When he grabs Arya’s hand, she gives him a bright smile in return as all seven of them line up on the edge of the top level of Tywin’s boat, ready to take the big drop and it’s higher than he expected, but no less thrilling when Rickon yells _Go,_ and they all jump together, crashing through the cool water below at the exact same time, although some are quicker to resurface than the others.

By the time Gendry breathes a fresh breath of oxygen, Missandei and Yara are the last two to resurface, although both are a little farther away than everyone else and he thinks that perhaps they had a little underwater wager to see who can swim out the farthest, Yara winning of course. 

Everyone splashes and laughs and reveals in the bay water and maybe this whole ordeal he agreed to won’t be that bad.

But he reconsiders that notion when Arya catches him off guard from behind and dunks him swiftly into the water, bouncing back up with an evil grin and subtly swimming away like nothing happened and he didn’t almost choke on seawater because she’s a little minx that likes to play around too much.

She’s definitely a firecracker and if he’s not careful, she’ll burn him like no other.

He laughs as Rickon tries, and utterly fails staying onto Hot Pie’s back as a crew member of the yacht appears beside the small ladder next to the deck, “If you’ll please join us, we’ll be departing now and heading for Sunspear. Lunch is ready and waiting to be served once everyone has arrived in the dining room.”

Hot Pie looks to the boat, eager for everyone to try the food he’s prepared, “Can you please heat the bread now so it will be warm on the plates?”

The staff member agrees happily and then walks away, leaving each of them to climb back onto the boat and get dry for the hot meal, something for which Gendry is grateful since he was forced to skip out on breakfast for fear of being even later than he already was.

***

Just after the midday hour, Gendry finds himself wrapped up in a world he knows nothing of as the people around him seem to navigate their way through the boat with a sense of ease and normalcy, an abnormal type of home some would say, something Gendry doesn’t think he’s ever really had.

As they all make their way to the small dining room, he feels the boat rock beneath his feet as they sail down to Dorne, the others completely unbothered by the unsteady atmosphere, another thing he thinks he’ll have to learn to get used to over time.

His mind steers itself away from the boat and towards the lunch that’s being served before them, his stomach growling happily in anticipation of having the warm food coat his throat and finally have his energy returned to his draining body.

He’s tired and he’s hungry and if he keeps his mouth shut long enough to get through the meal, it will go without incident of one of his many moods he gets into when he’s lacking proper sustenance.

The others must feel the same way because for the first ten minutes or so, no one speaks a word, the only sound coming from utensils hitting porcelain plates and wine eagerly sipped from glasses.

Once Rickon breaks the silence, the conversations flow easily as Gendry listens to a tale of a time when they ran into a herd of sharks, Missandei marveling happily about the grey ocean creatures.

“I’m not fearful of sharks by any means, but they are pretty dangerous right? You’re not worried about being attacked?”

Before Arya can protest her fable to him, he holds up a finger in her direction without breaking eye contact with the others, “Save it, Stark. I know it was a bear trap.”

From the corner of his eye, he sees Arya send angry dangers towards Mya who simply sniggers behind her napkin that’s held to her face as Missandei smiles warmly at him, ready to answer any questions he has about the sea life, “Most shark attacks are merely a case of mistaken identity and rarely ever an isolated incident where humans are sought out to be attacked. The tend to hover in small group around humans simply out of curiosity, but it is always smart to be cautious regardless, they are such magnificent creatures.”

Yara sips her wine and then looks at Gendry, “They most likely won’t be an issue since that hurricane just came through, they’ll be reacquainting themselves with the sea floor after diving to greater depths to avoid the storm.”

Hot Pie leans back in his chair, fully sated, “Yeah, mate. That’s the best time to get out there, but not because of the sharks.”

When Hot Pie doesn’t elaborate on his vague comment he turns back to Yara expecting an answer, remembering that she is the climate expert among the small adventurers, “Hurricanes help shift sand around, it makes it easier to uncover what’s been covered for hundreds of years, so naturally, we encourage them, helps make our jobs slightly easier. Our other expeditions never had a recent storm, so we have big hopes for this one.”

Arya meets his eyes for the first time since they sat down, “While Yara is right, they are not _always_ helpful. They can still disturb a lot of distance on the seabed and whatever was once somewhere, could now be scattered all over the ocean floor.”

Mya nudges Gendry beside her playfully, “There’s an old saying: ‘Miss by an inch, miss by a mile.’”

“We still have our work cut out for us, but we’re ready for anything.”

Gendry nods solemnly, realizing he doesn’t even know what they are looking for, “And what exactly is it that we are after? Surely you don’t go out in the middle of the ocean half-cocked and hope for the best, right?”

Rickon chimes in in between bites of food, “We may be scoundrels of the sea, mate. But we’re not stupid. Of course, we do our research first and know exactly _what_ we are after, it’s the _where_ part that’s a little tricky.”

Yara leans in from her spot across the table, “The ship we’re after is called _Nymeria_ , and the woman who sailed her is an absolute legend.”

Gendry waits for her to elaborate, but when Yara simply goes back to her meal, his sister chimes in for her, “She went by many names, _No One_ , _Weasel_ , but my favorite alias of hers is _Cat of the Canals_ , so for this story we’ll just call her _Cat_.”

He listens closely as Mya, and along with the others for the details are many, tell the story of how Cat of the Canals crashed her ship into the ocean.

“So, Cat had just saved Westeros from the long night and a feast was held in her honor, but the legend says that she was never satisfied with her life after the war, that she wanted to explore new lands, sail away from her home.”

Hot Pie speaks over Mya, who happily lets him take over the story, an excited gleam in his eyes, “It’s said that the day the country’s council chose a new king to rule, she loaded everything she owned onto her ship and sailed away, and keep in mind this girl did it all. Came from a royal family and everything, so you can imagine the kind of cargo her precious Nymeria held.”

He takes a bite of bread before speaking again, “Anyway, she left what little family she had, and even a _Lord love_ behind if the legend is accurate,” he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and then continues, “and sailed off. Her path was to go West so she sailed down to Dorne and planned to discover any land west of Oldtown, but by the time she made it down to the Summer Sea, a huge hurricane threatened the coast and forced her to change her route. Legend says she turned her ship around towards Essos, supposedly heading for the island of Lys but never made it to shore and was never heard from again.”

Gendry furrows his eyebrows, pondering something about the story that doesn’t make any sense to him, “Wait, so she saves the world, and then just leaves? Her family, a supposed boyfriend, everyone for some ill-fated adventure West?”

Arya’s expression softens, “Apparently. I mean it’s dumb as fuck for sure, but good for us, because all the cargo she was carrying is out there waiting for us to find. It’s always been a dream of mine to know what happened to her.”

Missandei adds, “Her story isn’t told to many people, therefore not many know or believe that her ship is out there somewhere. But we do,” she pauses long enough to glance around to her fellow shipmates, “we know, and we’re going to be the one to tell her story.”

Gendry watches as Rickon appears to whisper only to Arya, “You don’t think the connection is weird though?”

It’s obviously something he’s not privy to, so he asks, “What connection?”

Arya rolls her eyes at her brother and then sighs heavily, “Cat is rumored to be an ancestor of the Starks, it’s kind of where my namesake comes from.”

Rickon merely stifles a laugh and he muses that that’s not all to the story, “And? Spit it out Stark, obviously this _connection_ is amusing your brother over there so what is it?”

Arya shifts uncomfortably in her chair, luckily for her Mya helps her out, “Legend goes that her _Lord Love_ , as Hot Pie so generously called him has a long-lost tie to the Baratheons. So, given you and Arya’s little tryst recently, the irony of the story is not lost on young Rickon here.”

Yara stands up from the table and brings her glass with her as she walks to his side, “He wasn’t always a Lord you know, it’s been said that he grew up with the common folk, a regular bastard hiding amongst the civilians and before he was legitimized he was working on the street of steel as a blacksmith, went by the name Clovis so the high-borns wouldn’t recognize he was the son of royalty.”

Missandei rises from the table and joins Yara by her side, “And she still loved him, despite his status, despite everything else.”

Gendry’s eyes meet Arya’s involuntarily and he watches her catch her breath and the pink rise in her cheeks as she holds his steady gaze, “And she still left him.”

She seems to have him under a spell because for the life of him, he can’t bring himself to look away until his resolve breaks and another question plagues his mind, “So if all of this isn’t well known, how do you lot know about it?”

Rickon and Arya exchange knowing glances and smug smirks before looking at him and speaking in unison, “Bran.”

Gendry cocks his head to the side, following everyone else as they leave the dining table and head for the deck above, “Bran? Is that some sort of new search engine or something?”

All at once, each of his companions release loud cackles in sheer amusement, “Close. Bran is our brother, and very _very_ intelligent. If Bran says it’s true, then it’s true. He’s never steered us wrong before. He’s back in Winterfell keeping his own track of our little adventure and will be ready to help when he can.”

By the time they all get comfortable on the deck of the yacht, the wind whips swiftly as the boat bounces along its watery path, the vast ocean spreads out before them, the sun shining brightly above as the girls use the opportunity to lay out and sun bathe, Rickon and Hot Pie talking animatedly amongst themselves across the way.

He’s noticed again, not for the first time since meeting the small group that they tend to maneuver around each other like’s it’s something so natural, as easy as breathing and he supposes that they need to have a close dynamic like that in order to do what they do and come out of it without any harm.

Just like with the jump earlier that morning, trust is the biggest part of this job and without it, well things can go bad very quickly. They rely on each other, support each other, and love each other. Like a family should, and while Mya is his family, he’s never really had one outside of her and his foster parents.

For a solid half hour, he’s content just sitting on his own, watching the colors of the sky reflect off the sea as they make their way down to Sunspear, that is until Arya interrupts his solitary confinement, or his _lonesome brooding_ as his sister likes to call it, “Are you ever going to make an effort with us, or are you going to be satisfied throughout this journey having made zero friends and have no one to talk to?”

“I’ve always been fine on my own, thanks.” He pauses, not knowing he wants to continue further indulging her, “Besides, I thought I was to _remain professional_ with you. Now you want to be friends?”

She rolls her eyes half-heartedly before sitting down beside him, “I was in shock okay, I may have over-reacted a little with what I said. I just really wasn’t expecting to see you again so quickly, can you really blame me for being dramatic?”

He smiles slightly, “No, but I can blame you for tossing me in the Bay. That part was just unnecessary.”

He shakes his head and laughs at the memory as she playfully punches him in the arm, “Oh fuck off, that was hysterical and totally warranted for you teasing me about, well, _you know_ …”

She trails off and dares to catch his eye as they both think about what’s lingering in the others mind, wandering hands, lustful kisses that ended a last night home in blissful passion.

He says nothing as he watches her grey eyes and that same pink tint rise to her flushed cheeks, a soft blush that has her looking even more beautiful that he thought she did that night.

He leans his head back against the couch they’re occupying, “I know, and I know you warned me about the teasing, but I can’t help that it’s just so much fun to watch you squirm, Stark,” he leans closer to her, their warm breathing mixing in the buzzing electricity between them, “kind of like the way I did when I had my…” 

Arya cuts him off with another punch, but harder this time, and yet still playfully, “You stupid fucking bull! You’re impossible.”

As she walks away from him, he notices she tries to hide the way his words affect her, a subtle hand wave to brush him off, the way her other hand comes up to rest on her heart.

He likes getting a rise out of her and it’s slowly becoming his new favorite hobby. Maybe one new friend won’t be so bad after all.

***

As the Dornish sun begins to make its descent towards the calm sea below, they dock at the marina in Sunspear right on time, Gendry and Arya being the last ones to deboard the yacht.

“You know, technically we’re still in Westeros and haven’t really began the mission just yet. I can try to find another mechanic here if you want to bail. Mya kind of let it slip in a drunken rant through no fault of her own that she worries about you sometimes.”

Before she walked up beside him and began talking, his attention was held elsewhere, but then Arya speaking of his sister has his head whipping around to her sad expression, “She worries that you keep people at arms-length too much and that you run when they start to get too close.”

He sighs and shifts his eyes downward, “She doesn’t think I’ll stick, around does she? And neither do you, I can tell by your tone.”

Arya shrugs her shoulders as they step off the boat and onto the dock side by side, “I can’t say I know you well enough to make that kind of assumption. But I know Mya, and I don’t want to see her get hurt because she put faith in you. A kind of faith you’re not ready to handle.”

They walk together towards the others who are waiting at the end of the dock, “She’s not wrong, but it’s different this time.”

“So, I’m not about to see a Gendry shaped hole in the door of this restaurant up here when it’s time to get on the other boat?”

“Not a chance. You’re stuck with me, princess.”

And when she smiles warmly back at him, he thinks that this was the best decision he’s made in a very long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still with me? I love feedback, FYI. ♥


	4. let's conspire to ignite, all the souls that would die just to feel alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A private tour, a high flying adventure, and a musical bonfire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Starlight by Muse  
> Song Featured: Stand By Me by Ben E. King

**_My life, you electrify my life_ **

**_Let’s conspire to ignite_ **

**_All the souls that would die just to feel alive_ **

**_Now I’ll never let you go_ **

**_If you promise not to fade away_ **

****

**April 22, 2020 -- 19:14**

“Your treasure hunting boat has its own helipad?”

She watches in amusement as Gendry’s eyes roam over the length of their boat, amazement clear in his facial expressions.

It’s not the best by any means compared to other ships around the area but they don’t need much and are comfortable with what they’ve managed to turn this one into.

With its large open deck area, equipped with said helipad and plenty of open space for when they need it, it’s perfect for their high sea adventures.

Arya rolls her eyes at him and ignores his question for the time being as they make their way towards the boat. Since they have a couple of hours to kill until their dinner reservation that Yara’s younger brother Theon made for them while he’s in town visiting his girlfriend, they all decided to take the opportunity to show Gendry around and get their rooms in order before they leave out the next morning.

Standing in the wide-open area that is the designated landing spot for a single helicopter, Arya crosses her arms over her chest and states, “Tywin insisted it. He says it’s good to have a pilot on standby twenty-four seven in case of an emergency but we think it’s just because he doesn’t want one of us to sue him in case something goes wrong and we say he didn’t take every measurement possible to keep us safe.”

He laughs but it’s more of disgust rather than humor, “Yeah, sounds like the crooked old-man.” Gendry looks around as the others stagger onto the boat one by one.

Arya ignores the jape in favor of watching as a few staff members of the Sunspear marina load their luggage and belongings onto the deck of the ship as requested, and Missandei begins her usual tasks of writing out everyone’s names onto tiny sheets of scrap paper.

“We should assign rooms before dinner, that way when we get back here, we can get settled in.”

Gendry raises a hand before speaking as if he needs to be called upon before asking a simple question, “I’m not expert on the lay of the land here, but I’m assuming there isn’t enough rooms for each of us to have our own, so how many people does each one hold?”

Missandei, ever the captain that she is, answers his question with poise and a level of patience Arya will never understand when it comes to one Gendry Baratheon, “There are four resident cabins total. One person will be lucky enough to have their own while the other three rooms will hold two roommates.”

Gendry looks at her with an innocently confused expression on his face, “Wait, what do you mean one person gets their own room? You’re the captain, right? Shouldn’t that belong to you?”

Missandei gives him a soft smile, “Yes, I am the captain, but we’re all equals here Gendry. No one is better than the other and we split and decide on these things that’s fair to everyone involved.”

It’s not often, she’s noticed, that he’s been rendered speechless, so when Gendry only nods in agreement and keeps his mouth closed, she wonders if perhaps he doesn’t have a snappy comeback for everything.

She doesn’t have to explain every step as they go for, they’ve all done this a few times before, but for Gendry’s sake, she makes everything clear along the way.

“Now then, I will draw the first name at random and that person will get the single.”

She puts each name that is written down in a small cup, shaking it lightly so that it gets mixed up enough to be a fair draw.

Arya, standing next to Gendry as Missandei handles the name task, leans over to whisper only to him, “Hot Pie got the single our last go around, I don’t think it suited him all that well, not having anyone to talk to.”

She watches as Gendry’s lips form a straight line and he remains unusual quiet, at least around her she’s noticed thus far, “Let me guess, you’re hoping to get the single room, now aren’t you?”

She laughs quietly when he holds back a pained expression and she knows she’s right on the mark.

They both turn their attention back to the Captain when she says, “And the lucky winner is… Arya Stark!”

Arya can’t help the short _ha_ , that escapes her lips in Gendry’s direction and the sway of her hips as she stalks to the front of the group where Missandei holds up the small paper with her name on it. She was hoping to get the single room but would have been okay with anyone here as her bunkmate, except for maybe Gendry given their recent history. 

“Sweet! Now for the roommates.” She says excitedly.

Arya reaches into the cup and grabs out one name, and then another for the match.

“Mya and Yara!”

The ladies high five happily before facing the front once more. A match up that is a first for the crew, which leads to all the others being first timers as well.

Arya pulls out two more names, “Rickon and Missandei! Which leaves our newest member with Hot Pie.”

Her eyes meet Gendry’s who looks slightly panicked at having the resident chatterbox as a bunk mate and when he approaches Arya after the announcement, he can’t help but to groan out his annoyance, “You did that on purpose didn’t you?”

Of course, he would accuse her of such.

“Hey! You watched me the whole time, those names were chosen completely at random, and I’m no cheater. Maybe it was fate that you ended up with Hot Pie, who knows. And if you hurt him in any way, I will fucking bury you.”

She points her index finger at him as they walk over to where everyone is already grabbing their bags from the large pile of cargo tossed about on the upper deck, “Yeah alright, I’m not going to do anything to the kid, I’ll be the perfect roommate. Swear it.”

He puts his hands over his heart while Arya only narrows her eyes at him, “Whatever, just follow me and I’ll show you around.”

She gets a little frustrated at how slow he’s following behind her, but when she turns around to face him, her demeanor softens at how he seems to be marveling at everything around him, much like she did the first time she stepped onto the same boat after Tywin had it remolded to their exact specifications. 

“This doesn’t look like a typical fishing boat.” He says as they make their way slowly through, stopping long enough to highlight some of the important parts like where each fire extinguisher is located as well as each speaker and keypad is built into the wall for the PA system.

“It’s not, it’s been completely remodeled to fit our every need and preference. You do know how rich Tywin is right? It wasn’t that hard to make it happen, and the overall cost was basically pocket change to that old man.”

He falls into step easily beside her, “It’s impressive, actually. Not that he paid for it or anything but the design itself. It’s a fishing boat but made to look more like a cruise ship.”

“You mean it’s impressive that we could take an ugly old fishing boat and turn it into something beautifully remarkable and unique?” She gives him a side smirk as he catches her tender gaze.

“Well, yeah. I’m just… it’s nice, okay?”

After showing him the kitchen and dining room, the infirmary, and the main room they use to hold and clean all their gear and scuba equipment, they stop at the recreation room, one of Arya’s favorites.

“Obviously, there’s no cable, but we do have a kick ass dvd selection and a few video games on old setups. There’s also the ping-pong table, and a vinyl collection, and…” she pauses and walks over to the far corner of the room, “and the library where we have books both for important research and for leisure reading.”

“Not bad, Stark. Maybe you do know how to have fun.”

She looks mildly offended at that when she says, “Dude, we literally just met, got drunk, started a brawl and then fucked like three times, how is any of that not fun to you? You really don’t have any friends do you?”

She doesn’t give him the chance to respond as she laughs at her own question and then moves onto the next room he has yet to explore, the space that holds the special equipment and the safe for all of their special finds under the sea.

“I can’t really show you how anything works in here until we actually find something to put it to use.”

“Fair enough.” He looks around the room for a few solid seconds before following her back out and down the hall, “So I noticed the lack of whiskey or beer in the kitchen, do you have a special room for that or something?”

She expected him to bring it up but not exactly this soon.

“This is a dry boat, Gendry.” She stops and waits for his reaction.

“Dry? As in no alcohol, like at all?” He looks painfully wounded and she honestly wants to die from how hysterical it is that he seems to not be able to handle the fact that he can’t drink on the ship.

“None, we have a strict rule here, no alcohol. Period. It’s too much of a risk if someone gets drunk and then spontaneously decides they suddenly have the urge to ride an octopus.”

She sighs and stops walking to make sure he understands the point she’s trying to make.

“We need to keep our heads on straight and not fuck around. The only exception is when we spend time on shore, other than that, it’s sober city up here. Got it?”

Her breath hitches when he gets a devilish twinkle in his blue eyes and she has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from making any noise when he takes a few slow steps towards her, “Well I didn’t think riding sea creatures was an option, I was thinking more around the lines of having a little liquid courage for _other_ activities.”

She swallows the lump forming in her throat and takes a subtle step backwards, “That’s not going to happen either, Baratheon. We have a no hook-up policy around here too.”

“Is that so?” He smirks and his eyes darken slightly.

“Yes, as in no female Starks will be hooking up with any Baratheon male bastards, everyone else is fair game.”

She gives a playful wink before stalking off as she hears him yell down the hall in her direction, “Oh, you wound me, princess.”

***

The last room she needs to show him, and perhaps one of the most important of them all, is the large tiled co-ed locker room that holds the showers and restroom stalls.

“Fuck, no.” He states ever so clearly.

She whips her head up to where he stands tall next to her, a pained look on his face, “What?”

“We all have to share this space?”

“The showers are made just like a typical locker room, you won’t see anything unless you make an effort to, it’s not that bad, quit being such a baby.” 

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed this about me, but I’m not exactly what you call a _people person_ , so sharing this kind of thing is definitely a losing situation for me.”

“Oh, you don’t say,” Arya rolls her eyes at him before adding, “Just work it out to where you’ll be in here alone and you’ll be fine. And unless you want to be scared for life, please have good timing with Mya. Rickon and I always tell each other first before we need a shower so that therapy isn’t warranted when this trip is over.”

“Besides, we’re going to be in the water, with our swimsuits on which is basically like underwear, and I’m sure there will be a few slip-ups, it’s not that big of a deal. We’re all adults here and I fully expect you to act mature about this. And you’ve already seen me naked, so that should be nothing new to you.”

She smacks him twice on the chest with a laugh before leaving him alone to contemplate whether to take her up on her earlier offer and just jump ship while he still has the chance.

And she can’t help the little smile that threatens her lips when he soon catches up to her with a witty comeback, “So shower sex is out of the question then, since there’s no privacy?” 

She stops abruptly and nearly smacks right into his chest when he too stops just as quickly behind her, “Ugh, is that all you think about? You know they have AA meetings for that right, maybe you should find one and get off my boat.”

“Relax, princess, I’m only teasing. And I only bring it up because that little tinge of pink that highlights your cheeks when I do is just too cute to resist.”

Fuck, he can see that. She’s got to get better at hiding how flustered he makes her.

“Well if that’s all you want to see, maybe you’ll have the same effect on your new roommate, maybe try it out on him and see if he takes the bait.”

She turns to walk back the same way she was headed before their little exchange and yells, “But let me be there when you do, I would love to see Hot Pie really put you in your place!”

***

The soft pink and orange Dornish sky is a sight to behold as Arya steps off the boat and down the wooden bridge that attaches to the long dock, Gendry’s heavy footsteps following swiftly behind her but when she misses a step and nearly falls off the pathway and into the water, strong arms envelope her quickly and she’s suddenly pulled upright against his broad frame, his blue eyes blazing into her and she forgets how to breathe.

She forces herself to tear her eyes away from his and instead stares at the logo on the t-shirt he’s wearing, some band she knows as well as she stutters a whispered _thanks_ before stepping away on shaky feet and not looking back as they continue their path up to the beach where the rest of the crew waits.

A few hundred feet ahead she catches Rickon’s eyes first as he nods towards the other end of the beach, his shaggy auburn hair rustling in the breeze and she follows his line of sight and then smiles brightly before turning to Gendry beside her and asking, “You’re not afraid of heights are you?”

He doesn’t look her way when he replies, instead he seems to focus solely on his feet for some weird reason, “No, why?”

She smacks his arm to get his attention and then points towards a small boat waiting on the shore several yards away from them, “Because that’s why.”

The lot of them walk down the beach with excitement and a hasty and unanticipated need to release some pent-up energy.

“Why don’t we pair up by roommates? Arya, you shouldn’t have a problem with that, do you?” Mya asks politely with a hint of mocking enjoyment in her tone.

Her voices cracks a little and she berates herself internally for it when she replies with a simple, “Not at all.”

“Why would you, you don’t have a roommate?” Gendry questions from beside her, not understanding the obvious inside joke. 

“Well, for this little adventure I do. _You_.”

“Me? Why me?”

“Because Hot Pie does have an aversion to heights, therefore you get to ride me.”

Her eyes widen dramatically at the obvious blunder and she hurries to correct herself, “I uh, I mean take the ride with me, you know what I meant.”

He laughs a genuine laugh, no mirth or mockery laced underneath whatsoever, “I know what you mean, Stark. It’s fine with me if we go together.”

Two by two, everyone takes their turn until it’s only Arya and Gendry left and just before they step onto the boat and prepare to get their safety harnesses on, Gendry leans down to whisper in her ear, causing a shiver to run down her spine, at both his hot breath against her skin and the words that escape his soft lips, “Did you already forget that we took _that ride_ less than twenty-four hours ago, princess?”

Her cheeks are a flame and she punches him harder than intended but he deserves it nonetheless, “Shut up, of course I haven’t. And once those twenty-fours are up, I want you to pretend like you have forgotten about it and not bring it up every two seconds okay?”

She honestly will not be able to focus on the next several months of her life with him in close proximity if he keeps reminding her of how fucking _good_ it felt to have him in such a way every time he finds the opportunity.

No, he can have his fun for the next little while but after that they need to remain focused on what they’re doing out here. She needs him to understand that. Now what comes after their mission is complete? Well, that’s anyone guess.

Strapped in and sitting together, she happily takes Gendry’s hand in hers as they wait to be launch into the beautiful sunset sky.

Parasailing has always been a favorite of Arya’s and she’s excited to be sharing the experience with someone who is experiencing it for the very first time.

“How many times have you done this?” Gendry yells over the whipping wind, to which she replies with _tons_ , and he seems to accept that answer.

“Ready?” Arya asks and when he shakes his head in agreement, she gives the signal and suddenly they are flying high in the air, the parachute doing it’s job perfectly as they glide along with the boat, the descending sun cascading a beautiful glow of orange, purple and blue all around them.

She looks over to Gendry and can’t help but to smile just as brightly as he is and when he squeezes her hand just a little bit tighter, she thinks that maybe he has a new favorite past time too.

***

This day has been completely unexpected for Gendry, to say the least, and in so many different ways he couldn’t possibly have predicted for himself.

After the whole _we just had sex and now this is happening_ debacle with Arya, he honestly didn’t think things could turn around and not be awkward, but it did, and it isn’t. _She_ is what he expected.

While he’s still skeptical of making new friends, for his own personal reasons due to bad experiences, the people he’s met so far aren’t as awful as he imagined. But he’ll soon learn the exact opposite of that notion.

After the tour of the boat and the parasailing adventure, the group heads back to their rooms to change for dinner and then meet up at the restaurant at their own pace.

Not knowing what to expect on this trip, Gendry did manage to pack a variety of clothes so he’s grateful to find a pair of dark jeans in his duffle and he pairs it with the nicest shirt he could find that didn’t have wrinkles in it from the packing, a soft grey t-shirt that hugs his muscles just the way he likes.

Leaving the room he shares with Hot Pie, who got dressed and ready in record time since he was too eager to get to the restaurant they’re eating at, he sighs in relief as he walks through the halls and manages to not run into anyone, that is until he reaches the lower deck and sees Rickon and Arya talking happily to themselves, and in no hurry to be going anywhere.

The youngest Stark is dressed similar to him in causal clothes while Arya looks stunning in a flowy black skirt and a white Lacey tank top.

“Hey, mate. You ready to go?”

Gendry eyes Rickon suspiciously before turning to Arya, “Were you guys waiting on me?”

She shrugs nonchalantly and begins to walk away, expecting them to follow, “Didn’t want you to get lost as I don’t believe I ever told you where we are going.”

“Mya told me; I would have been fine on my own.”

 _Fuck_ , he curses himself internally. He told himself he would try to make an effort, so he quickly adds, “But I appreciate the gesture regardless, _princess_.”

He still couldn’t help himself.

They climb into the waiting cab in the parking lot of the marina when Rickon voices his natural disgust for the two, “Gross. You guys hook up one time and you already have nicknames for each other?”

“You couldn’t be more wrong about that, Rick. He only calls me that because he knows I hate it. And me calling him anything other than a stupid fucking bull, would just be unnecessarily cruel, so I refrain.” She smirks sarcastically at him before looking out the window as they ride through the busy city.

Sunspear isn’t a bad place per say, it has it quirks with the culture and the unique way of life, but he’d honestly rather be in Storm’s End. One of the reasons he agreed to go on this trip was the fact that they would be in the middle of the ocean, where there aren’t any people.

The ride is mostly done in content silent, at least from Arya and Gendry who listen politely as Rickon goes on about scuba diving and such but when they pull up to the restaurant, Arya hesitates on getting out as she turns back to give him a fair warning, “I’m going to go ahead and apologize for Yara’s brother. Theon is, well… you’ll see.”

Great, just when he thought he could enjoy the company around him.

It looks like to him they are the last to arrive because he knows everyone here except for the man standing next to Yara and the woman standing next to him.

Yara sighs painfully before turning to Gendry for the introduction, “Gendry, this is my younger brother Theon and his girlfriend Annie.” She pauses for a beat before continuing plainly, “This is Gendry our new mechanic and Mya’s brother.”

Theon sticks his hand out for Gendry to shake and he seems nice enough, that is until he opens his mouth and asks, “So how was it?”

Perplexed, he looks to the others for a hint as to what he could be referring to and when none of them budge, he questions the man himself, “How was what?”

Still holding onto his hand, Theon leans in closer and attempts to whisper but he’s very poor at being subtle, “Arya in the sack, mate.”

Yara smacks him upside the head prompting him to quickly release Gendry’s right hand in favor of rubbing the now sore spot on his skull, “What the fuck, Theon?”

Gendry groans and looks up to the sky for a semblance of patience as Arya smacks Theon in the chest, multiple times, enunciating each word clearly, “ _Yeah, Theon, what the fuck_?”

“Ow, would everyone please stop abusing me?”

Mya looks confused, “Wait, how do you even know about them hooking up last night?”

“I didn’t, but thanks for the confirmation. Just goes to show that my new superpower really does work.”

He brushes himself across the shoulder as a way of patting himself on the back and Gendry thinks maybe, just maybe it’s not to late to get the fuck out of there. He could fake ill or something and skip dinner and just stay on the boat alone. That option is looking better and better.

“Dude, what are you talking about?” Rickon looks like he would rather be talking about anything other than his sister’s sex life, but also as equally curious about Theon’s so called ‘superpower.’

Yara speaks for her brother before he can embarrass himself or anyone else more than he already has, “Theon thinks that he can just look at someone and be able to tell you the last time they got laid, or in this case when and with who if they are in the same room.”

Arya crosses her arms over her chest in defiance, “That’s ludicrous.”

“Maybe, but I was right about you and the bastard here.”

Being called a bastard his whole life does nothing for him anymore, but when Theon says it, it manages to really crawl under his skin in a way he doesn’t like.

“I’m like the _sex whisperer_. For instance, you two hooked up last night as Mya confirmed, and you’re both just radiating sexual tension right now.”

He shares a quick glance with Arya, but the fleeting moment is immediately squashed when Theon begins to test his theory out on his friends.

One by one he turns to each person to use his powers of deduction.

“Hot Pie, two nights ago. Which is impressive if I do say so myself.”

Gendry speaks for the lot of them, “Please don’t.”

But that’s not stopping him.

“Missandei, it’s been a few months.” She says nothing, but does not look uncomfortable either, more like she’s used to his antics.

“Mya, one week ago.”

“Yara, one week ago as well, interesting.”

He doesn’t dwell on that coincidence because when he turns to Rickon, Arya stops him instantly, “Okay, that’s enough. It’s already bad that Rick has to endure the subject of my hookup, I am not subjecting myself to the same torture of knowing anything about his own. Let’s just go eat.”

She walks inside without further objection from anyone apart from Theon who whispers something to her younger brother before the both of them chuckle quietly and share a quick fist bump as they all follow Arya inside the restaurant.

He prays to all Seven he can make it through this meal without shoving Theon’s head through the wall. He’d hate to have to pay for repairs to two establishments two nights in a row.

***

Fortunately for Gendry, dinner is a quiet affair and he mostly keeps to himself until he’s asked a direct question, but those moments were few and far in between, so for the most part he gets away from the table after everyone is finished predominantly unscathed.

He expects to leave the restaurant and head back to the boat but apparently his new friends have other plans in mind to keep the lively momentum of the evening going.

A bonfire on the beach under the stars shining brightly in the Dornish sky.

The lot of them, including Theon and Annie, gather around the blazing fire pit enjoying the other’s company while Gendry sulks silently to himself.

But that doesn’t go unnoticed by Arya who plops herself downright next to him with a warm smile, almost as warm as the flames aside them.

He doesn’t know how this trip was going to go but he thought by now they’d be out on the sea, far from shore. So, when Arya ends her conversation with Missandei on her other side, he gently gets her attention with a soft whisper, “So is there a reason we haven’t left yet? Do you need permission to leave or something?”

Arya shakes her head and laughs lightly, “Of course not, we can leave whenever we want. We just find it’s better to leave early in the morning before everyone else gets their boats out on the water, less traffic and stuff like that.”

The way she explains it almost seems as if she’s weary of something bad happening.

“What? You afraid someone will follow you to your secret treasure spot?”

Her response stuns him into utter silence, “Yes, actually. There are other _groups_ out there that aren’t too keen on finding their own shipwreck but would rather steal it right out from underneath others.”

She pauses a long moment before continuing her explanation of why they feel it’s safer to leave at a convenient time of not being tailed, “There’s these Pirates called…”

His lips part open, half in shock, half in skepticism of what she’s saying, and so she stops him before he can even get the words out, “And yes, there are such things as modern-day Pirates, stupid.”

His mouth snaps shut and then falls open once again, but he still can’t find the words.

“Anyway, they call themselves _The Brotherhood_ and we’ve run into them a couple times before. They’re shady as fuck and always looking for a good steal. If we’re not careful, they can get their greedy hands on what we know or anything we have of the wreck and claim it as their own. It’s not hard to do.”

“Wouldn’t that make them thieves though? Isn’t that illegal?”

“Well, technically what we’re doing isn’t exactly legal. It’s not illegal either per say, it’s just frowned upon. If we’re in international waters, there’s not much anyone can do. Look the law is complicated okay, and we would never take from another crew that got their hands on something really good first. We’re better than that, but they are not. They just don’t give a shit.”

Gendry huffs a humorless laugh, “I guess there’s not ‘ _honor among thieves_ ’ after all then huh?”

Arya leans back on the palm of her hands, buried in the sand, “Not with the Brotherhood there isn’t.”

He says nothing as he stares into the glowing fire, the only sound coming from the crackling wood and the soft conversations around them.

Theon’s loud voice shakes away the content atmosphere Gendry and Arya were bathing in, “Oh enough about Pirates, you guys have to hear how good I’ve gotten.”

Arya looks back at Yara confused, “What the bloody hell is he on about now?”

“He’s going to get his guitar, apparently his lessons have paid off.” She looks bored as all seven hells and Gendry cringes internally for what’s about to conspire around this peaceful fire.

Theon rushes back with his acoustic guitar in hand and sits down with a grin, preparing his fingers in the right places against the barely used strings.

He begins to play, very poorly, and it sounds like a dying cat screaming in agony.

“No!” Mya protests.

“Dear Gods, please make it stop.” Yara complains.

Gendry, on the other hand says nothing as he reaches out and takes the guitar from Theon’s hands causing him to question him fiercely, “What the fuck, mate? I was just getting started.”

“I think that whoever your teacher is, needs to be compensated generously and then sent on a nice long vacation to recover from that sound. May I?”

He gestures towards the guitar and Theon agrees beguilingly as Gendry strums the instrument a few times before tuning it to his exact needs.

Arya smiles at him, slightly taken back that he knows what he’s doing with the fine machinery, “Play something appropriate.”

He begins the song he’s always loved to play and ironically enough per Arya’s request, it’s perfect for the occasion.

The others seem to agree as they sway along to the sound of his soft playing, and then Arya does something that surprises him just as equally. She beings to sing the lyrics.

**“ _When the night, has come. And the land is dark, and the moon, is the only, light we’ll see.”_**

He smiles slightly, intrigued by how beautiful her singing voice is, when Missandei sings along with the her for the next line.

**_“No, I won’t, be afraid. Oh, I won’t, be afraid. Just as long, as you stand, stand by me.”_ **

As the song continues, the rest of the group pitch in their own singing voices and the harmony is something magical, so intense he thinks that he’ll never forget this moment for the rest of his life.

**_“If the sky, that we look upon, should tumble and fall, or the mountain, she crumble, to the sea.”_ **

**_“I won’t cry, I won’t cry, No I won’t, shed a tear. Just as long, as you stand, stand by me.”_ **

In this moment, as he plays and they sing, he swears he’s never felt more alive. Every word, every note radiates throughout his entire body and he doesn’t think he’s ever felt this euphoric before.

But the song soon ends, and as he hands the guitar back to Theon without making a sound, everyone seems to be in a trance of a calm and restful peace, the only sounds the waves crashing against the shore and the fire burning in it’s place.

When the spell is broken, he’s brought down to reality by Theon who leans over to him, “Hey, do you think you could…”

“No.”

He should have guessed that was coming and there’s no way in all depths of all seven hells he’ll have the strength and the patience to teach that man how to properly play a musical instrument.

Theon scoffs and he and Annie, followed by Yara and Missandei head away from the beach and to a bar, agreeing that by the time all of them make it back to the boat at some point or another that night, they all have to be sober and ready to get to work, or sleep, whichever is appropriate at that time.

With only Mya, Rickon, Gendry, Arya, and Hot Pie left by the bonfire, he watches as the men converse and Arya speaks animatedly with his sister.

A few minutes pass by when Arya speaks to him for the first time since their singing session, “I didn’t know you could play the guitar.”

“Yeah, me either and you’re really fucking good too.” Mya adds with certain adoration for her little brother in her Baratheon blue eyes.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, _princess_.”

He knew his nickname would get a rise out of her when she replies with, “Yeah and maybe we should keep it that way.”

She stands with Rickon, ready to head wherever it is they decide the night will take them and he can’t help but to continue to tease her relentlessly as there is something about their bickering that makes him feel as if he never wants to give it up, “Stop being so mean to me, Stark, or I swear to all the Gods I’m going to fall in love with you.”

He holds his hand over his chest for dramatic effect and when she winks at him before spinning around quickly and walking away, he wonders if that tease was just that, a tease or partially the Gods honest truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hold me to it just yet, but it looks as if Wednesdays are going to be my regular posting days. 
> 
> Also if you've never been parasailing, I recommend it. ♥
> 
> Also also, next chapter they set sail and begin the diving adventure. I wasn't expecting that to take so many chapters in, haha.


	5. I'll guide you through the deep, I'll keep you close to me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re such a nerd, Stark.”   
> “Don’t act like you are suddenly any different. I’ve seen the way you get when Mya pulls out the side scan sonar.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please take note that I am not a treasure hunter nor a scientist, so everything in this chapter (and in future chapters) I got from either movies (Into The Blue, Fool's Gold, etc.) or a little bit of internet research and even so, it still might not be that accurate. Please ignore any facts that you know to be false. I'm probably just dumb. =p
> 
> This chapter is long so hopefully that makes up for being a week late. Love you all. 
> 
> I'll Follow You by Shinedown

**_I’ll follow you down to where forever lies,_ **

**_Without a doubt I'm on your side_ **

**_There's nowhere else that I would rather be_ **

**_I'm not about to compromise, give you up to say goodbye_ **

****

**April 23, 2020 -- 05:27**

**  
**“Why the fuck am I awake before six in the morning when I don’t have to be?”

Arya watches him bury his face in the crook of his elbow on her door frame absentmindedly from the corner of her eye as she folds her clothes and lays them on her bed, ready for them to be put in their designated drawer across the room.

“Sounds like a personal problem that I am not equipped to handle.”

He groans and the sound is muffled by his skin, it really is too early for her to deal with anything, especially since she hasn’t had her coffee yet, “The better question is, why are you wandering around outside of my room like a sleep-deprived zombie?”

Instead of answering her question, Gendry proceeds to flop himself down face first into the side of Arya’s bed that doesn’t hold her clean laundry and mumbles his response directly into her sheets, “I... bob frosss.”

“Come again?” She picks up the stack of clothes and walks over to her chest of drawers on the opposite side of the room as he lifts himself up behind her and moves to sit on the edge of the bed, “I got lost, okay?”

Shutting the drawer with a firm push, she turns around and faces him directly for the first time since he appeared in her doorway and she has to lean back on the wooden furniture to keep herself steady. He’s wearing grey jogging pants and a skintight white t-shirt that hugs his every muscle in all the right ways. Not to mention his ruffled bed-hair and sleepy blue eyes. Gods help her.

She supposes this is the view she would have gotten if she had woken up in his bed in different circumstances, or perhaps that view would have been something even better.

“I was trying to find the kitchen which is where I’m assuming my roommate is and I couldn’t remember where to go. I was about to give up and go back to bed when I heard you moving around in here.”

He scratches his eyes for a moment before looking around her room lazily, “Why is it so white in here?”

She assumes he means the obvious as in her choice of color for her bed linens and curtains. She shrugs half-heartedly, not wanting to give him the meaningful answer behind her reasoning and not really wanting to reminisce too much this early in the morning, “Reminds me of the North. I miss the snow sometimes.”

She glances at her watch before moving to the doorway, hoping he’ll follow, “Hot Pie should already be baking by now. Breakfast, snacks, whatever he feels like. He’s always been an early bird.”

Arya closes the door behind her once he is out of her room and waiting to follow her down the hall and lead the way before he gets lost again, “And you? Are you an early riser too?”

Again, she shrugs, wondering what it is with him and all the questions this morning, “Depends on the day really. But first, coffee!” She throws her arms in the air in a half assed _charge_ motion and hears him snigger behind her as they make their way towards the kitchen, the smell of baked goods and caffeine already invading all her senses before they even walk in.

“G’morning, Hot Pie.” She says as she enters and holds her hands out excitedly to grab the awaiting cup of coffee, he holds for her.

“Oh, Gendry, hey. I uhh, didn’t wake you, did I?” Hot Pie stammers out his greeting nervously as Gendry merely shrugs him off and sits down at the small island in the middle of the room, Arya following suit as she sips the scalding liquid happily.

“Nah, I had no idea you even left. You were surprisingly quiet so no worries. I guess I’m just a little anxious to get out there it seems cause otherwise I’d be sleeping like a baby right ‘bout now.”

Arya sips her mug, holding onto the porcelain with both hands letting the warmth wash over her, “You want coffee?”

Gendry folds his hands in his lap and gives her a simple answer that has her completely startled where she sits, “Never touch the stuff.”

Her eyes widen and she doesn’t even attempt to hide the shock in them, “Seriously?”

“Seriously. Don’t like the way it makes me feel. Some have a tolerance for it, some don’t. No big deal.” 

Before Arya can comment further, Hot Pie hands him a steaming mug of liquid a little lighter than her own, “Mya told me all about it, mate. Even gave me the name of the tea you drink so I made sure I stocked up before we left.”

Gendry takes the mug a little skeptically, but then she sees the slightest hint of a smile after he takes the first sip, meaning it must have been exactly what he said it was, “Thanks mate, I really appreciate that.”

Arya says nothing as they sit in content silence, each sipping out of their own cup ever so often as Hot Pie bustles about the place. But in true Arya fashion, she breaks the silence anyway, not being able to sit still and be quiet for too long at a time.

“So, an aversion to coffee and a tea drinker, plays the guitar, isn’t afraid of heights. Fine qualities, but too bad you’re still kind of an asshole though.”

“He’s not so bad, Arry.” Hot Pie smiles warmly at the two of them and she rethinks her statement wondering if her friend heard her correctly when he contradicts her words.

“Yeah, _Arry_. I’m not so bad.” Gendry gives her a shit teasing smirk, something she fully expects, and she rolls her eyes in response, wondering how the fuck they’ve suddenly ganged up on her out of nowhere.

“You guys watch the oven for me?” Hot Pie questions as he heads for the door.

“Sure thing.”

When Hot Pie leaves the kitchen, Arya immediately spins back around to face Gendry, suspicion clear in her steel eyes and smacks him on the air for emphasis, “Okay, what’s up with you two? Last night you loathed the fact he was going to be your roommate and now you two are oddly chummy, so spill.”

He shrugs one shoulder as he drinks his tea, his eyes slowly coming to life the more they talk and engage in conversation, “Well after we made it back to the boat last night, I made an effort into making the whole roommate thing work and asked him what he liked to do when he wasn’t in the kitchen. Turns out he likes hockey and playing cards like me, so we have something in common. Got to talking for a bit before bed, it’s nothing really.” 

“Gendry Baratheon? Famed introvert making a new friend? That’s a huge something.!” Arya slaps him on his arm like he has no idea what he’s just done, and she has to pinch herself to keep from smiling too widely.

Arya secretly hoped that this would happen, that he could become a civilized member of this group without her having to keep an eye on him every two seconds in case he started an unnecessary argument simply because he felt like being an asshole just for the sake of it, which is what he seems to do just naturally.

Maybe it won’t be that way, after all.

She goes back to sipping her now second cup of coffee when Gendry asks a very important question, “Uh, shouldn’t we be leaving soon?”

Arya swallows more than she should have and tries to hold back from literally choking on the steaming brown liquid from him catching her off guard with that question, which is something she should have been keeping up with herself as she looks at the time on her watch and nods in agreement, “Yeah, actually. Uh, hold.”

After running up to the deck and making sure the dock and surrounding area is clear, she runs back down to where Hot Pie and Gendry are in the kitchen and she suddenly has an idea to help make him feel more included. And since everyone else is still asleep, and she’s not quite that awake yet, he’s the perfect person for the job.

“Do you want to do the honors?”

He follows her out of the kitchen and up the stairs towards the bridge of the ship, “What? You want me to be the captain?”

“Sure. Everyone is still sleeping, and I’m not done with my coffee yet. You can pull anchor and get us moving, shouldn’t be too hard and I can walk you through it.”

Her heart flutters when she catches the small smile he tries to hide as she jumps up to sit on the counter behind the wheel.

From her perch with her mug in hand, she shows him the basics before he’s wheeling the anchor up and she explains how to carefully pull away from the dock and steer towards open water.

“See, you’re a natural. Might give Missy a run for her money on being captain.” She smirks from behind the rim of her coffee cup and then waves another arm in the air towards the large bay windows, “Now, aim for the second star to the right and straight on ‘till morning.”

Gendry remains focused with a firm grip of both hands on the wheel despite the laugh that escapes his lips, “Very funny. Seriously, where are we going?”

She rolls her eyes before jumping back down from the counter and inserting the exact coordinates they decided to start their search from. She shows him the screen and the blinking lights that go with each location, “We’re here and we need to be there, got it?”

He furrows his eyebrows and nods his head dramatically, “Just relax, stupid. You’re doing fine and I’m sure Yara or Missandei will take over when they get up, so you don’t actually have to be responsible for getting us to the right place.”

She sits back down and discards her cold coffee next to her, “Just don’t hit anything and you’ll be golden.”

For thirty minutes they sit in companionable silence as Gendry steers the boat through the waters into open sea, and Arya reads about the time period of the ship they’re going to be searching for.

After going down to the kitchen to get her another cup of coffee and him another mug of tea, she meets him back at the bridge and finds that everything appears to be running relatively smoothly, not that she had any doubts to suggest otherwise.

After her third and final cup, she comes up to stand beside him to make sure they are still heading in the right direction without any obvious issues all the while absentmindedly running her fingers over the smooth surface of her compass in her left hand, which does not go unnoticed no matter how far in the back of her mind the task actually is.

“What’s that?”

“Huh, what’s what?”

She follows his eyes to where they’ve landed on the object weighing in her hand and suddenly, she’s focused on the presence once more, “Oh, uh. It’s my compass, I found it on our last mission.”

His blue eyes center back on the windows in front of them, “And Lannister just let you keep it instead of adding it to his fancy collection at the museum?”

She looks confused, “Yeah, of course. It’s in our contract.”

And this time when his face contorts in confusion, realization suddenly dawns on her like she’d been slapped in the face, “Which I forgot to tell you about didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you failed to mention that part. I didn’t sign anything, should I even be driving this boat right now?”

“You’re perfectly fine to be driving and you didn’t have to sign anything. Only Mya and I and it just states we are allowed to hire any help we see fit. It’s basically just a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo but it does state that each member of the crew on this boat is allowed to keep one object from each shipwreck we find at the end of the mission when everything is sorted and appraised before being sent to the museum.”

“Surprisingly nice of the old man.”

“Anyway, on our last trip I found this compass and we added it to the pile and at the end it’s the one piece I kept.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure. It just kind of spoke to me. Maybe one day I’ll tell you the story of that trip.”

“I’m holding you to that, Stark.”

For some odd reason that makes her blush profusely and to avoid any sentiments, she finds her old spot on the counter once again, eager to put some breathing room in between them, “Don’t worry, Baratheon. You’ll get the chance to grab something good.”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“You know there are over three million shipwrecks in the ocean just waiting to be found and over seven million just in gold alone. Not to mention all the other priceless treasures, it’s really incredible to think about.”

Another half hour of content silence and reading, Arya busies herself with studying their map, the one they’ve marked out almost the entire mission on when she sees Gendry move to fiddle with the PA system from her peripheral vision.

“This goes out to the whole boat, right?”

“Yeah if you hit the red button, the other rooms are marked individually as such, why?”

He presses the magic button and then unhooks the black push button walkie from the wall but before he can use it, she stops him instantly, knowing he’s about to make one particularly grave mistake.

But the words don’t fall from her mouth because on the other hand, this could be interesting to see.

Instead of saying “ _I wouldn’t do that if I were you_.” She simply says, “I would make sure the volume is up first, that’s the knob on the right.”

He shakes his head in acknowledgement and turns the volume up with a muttered thanks before putting the device up to his mouth, clearing his throat for good measure before putting on his best flight attendant voice, “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. It is a _beautiful_ April day here on _SS No Name_ and we are currently traveling at something called knots and I am not quite sure how that works. If you’ll please join us, our lovely chef has freshly made coffee in the kitchen and if there are any stowaways named Theon Greyjoy on board, they will be promptly thrown _overboard_. Thank you and have a lovely day.”

Arya laughs quietly from where she sits as an immediate response is heard, but not from her or the speaker system. No, the shrill scream followed by a string of profanities is a deadly sound that reverberates all throughout the boat.

“What the _bloody hell_ was that?”

Before she can let him in on the secret, a voice is heard on the PA system, the little red light indicating it’s coming from the kitchen, “Oh, come on, please don’t kill Gendry. He didn’t know any better and Arry really should have stopped him sooner.”

She stifles her laughter as Gendry’s face turns pale white and he looks to her for an explanation, “Why should you have stopped me sooner, _Arry_?”

She asks a simple question of, “You can run pretty fast right?”

The screaming gets louder, and she supposes now is a good time to give him a head start, “You woke her up.”

“Who, Mya? I think I can handle my sister.”

“Not Mya, _Yara_. She _hates_ being woken up early.”

He moves to the door and peeks out for any sign of the enraged woman, “But wasn’t she like in the Navy or something, she should be used to that.”

“Yeah, she was. She’s retired and has vowed to make up for all those early mornings by sleeping in as much as she can and she loathes being woken up, especially by a loud and annoying ass…”

He gives her a defiant look and she finishes her sentence with subtlety, “…pa system. I could have warned you. But this is going to be so much fun to watch.”

The sound is muffled, but grows louder with each syllable, “I am going to _bury_ you Baratheon!”

“Payback’s a bitch, Stark. Just remember that.” He takes off running in the opposite direction out of the bridge, but she supposes since he got lost so easily this morning, he won’t get very far without getting turned out and running straight into her wrath.

She yells back at his retreating form, “Whatever you say!”

Assuming his now former position at the wheel, within ten minutes she’s joined by Mya and Rickon as the younger Stark takes over the driving for her and the girls bask in the joy of watching, well rather _listening_ to Yara chase after Gendry who surprisingly has not gotten caught yet.

“Even for you, that was pretty fucked up.” Mya gives her a serious glare before holding out a fist, “Kudos, my friend.”

Arya laughs and bumps her fist with Mya’s before Missandei decides to join them in the bridge, “How far have we made it?”

“If we’re sticking to the original coordinates, we chose last week, we have about six hours to go.”

Missandei nods and then turns to Rickon, “You good until after we get breakfast?”

He leans all fingers against his forehead for a salute, “Aye aye Captain.”

The girls walk out of the bridge and Arya turns to Missandei apologetically, “I told him to stop doing that.”

“I’m not worried about your brother, Arya.” She turns to Mya, “I’m worried about yours.”

As they walk to the kitchen, Gendry goes flying by with Yara hot on his tail, “He’ll be fine. She’ll eventually catch up and by then hopefully calmed down.” 

“I can’t believe you let him do that. I’d be pissed to for being woken up if it weren’t so damn funny. And he really didn’t get on with Theon, did he?”

“Not after one night, no. But who does at first? That will take time, a very very long time.”

And as Gendry and Yara run by them a second time, she thinks that maybe she’d like him to stick around long enough to get along with all her friends and family, present company excluded since they seem to be doing just fine.

***

Somehow, and she stills hardly believes it herself, Gendry managed to avoid Yara for a whole three hours before she finally caught him off guard with a swift punch to the arm for waking her up followed by a lengthy list of shit that already needs to be fixed or tweaked.

Which is where she finds Gendry another hour after he’s been tasked by Yara, fixing the leaky sink in the infirmary.

He doesn’t hear her come in, too enthralled with the pipes he’s currently working on or so she assumes. She leans back against the door when he speaks and she jumps slightly at the sudden noise filling the room, “I thought I was a mechanic, not a plumber.”

“Same thing ‘round here. How did you know I was in here?”

“I may not have heard you, but I can still smell that burrito you’re eating. And I know it’s _you_ because of the way _you_ smell. It’s the same scent I woke up to the other day, remember?”

She blushes and is glad he can’t see it before she shrugs and takes another bite as he stands up and she tosses him one of his own. Bringing him food while he works is the least, she can do since she’s the one who not so inadvertently caused him unnecessary Greyjoy wrath and a long list of chores.

Well the former she could have avoided, but the latter not so much. It is the reason he’s here after all.

“Thanks.” He leans against the counter and eats the breakfast burrito in happy contentment.

She finishes hers well before him and after she washes her hands with the now fixed sink, she notices that the knee of his jeans are ripped and stained with a touch of blood.

He tosses the wrapper in the nearby trash can as she walks over to grab some supplies before telling him to hop up on the table, “What happened?”

He does as he’s told and looks down at his leg, “Must have been when I tripped while running from Yara. Didn’t even feel a thing.”

“Sorry about that.” She clears her throat before saying, “You uh, need to take off your pants.”

He gives her a dangerously attractive smile while removing his pants and instead of falling into the trap, she walks over to the wall nearest to the door, “Rickon, can you buzz the infirmary?”

A couple seconds later, her younger brother’s voice rings in, “Hey, what’s up?”

“Can you go to Gendry’s room and bring him a pair of his shorts?”

“Do I even want to know what that’s about?”

“Just shut up and do it.”

“Ugh, fine. Be there in a sec.”

Sitting in only his t-shirt and boxer briefs, she tries not to ogle him too much which is ridiculous considering she’s seen it all before, “Sorry about that. Kinda my fault.”

She sprays peroxide on the cut as a distraction from how lame her apology sounded and he winces slightly at the sting, “‘S alright. I’m sure I deserved it for plenty of reasons.”

“Still.” His blue eyes bore into hers at their close proximity and she’s honestly surprised that he hasn’t made a quip about, well anything really as she throws a bandage on his knee and tells him she’s finished.

Before either of them has the chance to break the awkward tension lingering in the air, a voice over the speaker does the job for them when Missandei says, “Upper deck in five.”

Rickon appears then with one hand over his eyes and the other holding out the shorts for Gendry, saying nothing and then walking away silently.

Arya grabs the clothing from Rickon and throws it back at Gendry, thankful for the opportunity to take a step away from him without it being too weird, “I’m going to go see what that’s about. Don’t be late.”

When she rounds the corner out of his line of eyesight, she releases a large breath she wasn’t consciously aware she was holding.

She forces her mind to focus on what the reason could be as to why they’re stopping two hours before their scheduled arrival time and when she finally comes back into view of the open ocean, she sees the reason behind Missandei’s impromptu announcement.

About thirty feet away from where the ship has stopped is a pod of dolphins swimming and jumping happily in response to their new guests.

Upon meeting Missandei, Yara, and Rickon, the crew can’t help but to marvel at the magnificent sea life around them, “What do you think about a little diving break before carrying on?”

Rickon jumps excitedly, already heading down to the gear room, “I say hell yes!”

Passing Gendry, Mya and Hot Pie on the way down, Arya explains the pod and how they’re going to stop for a bit and go diving.

“Trust me, you aren’t going to want to miss this.” She says to Gendry as everyone grabs their wetsuits and diving equipment.

Mya grabs their new masks off the shelf and hands one to each of them, “New communication masks courtesy of the boss.”

“What about our old comm masks, I thought they were fine.”

“They were, but these come with GPS. He wasn’t too thrilled we lost one last time.”

Arya watches as Gendry rolls his eyes at that, “Typical.”

She ignores that for something a little more important, “Wait! You did get certified right?”

The last thing she needs is for the lot of them to teach him how to dive too. So, when he says _yes of course_ , she mentally checks another thing off the ever-growing list of concerns inside the back of her mind.

With his wetsuit now on, he comes back to where Arya is grabbing the last few things they need, “So I may have gotten certified, but I’ve never actually been diving.”

When she looks at him confused, he elaborates further, “I took the class and everything for a trip I was going to take with a… uhh,” he scratches the back of his neck and looks thoroughly uncomfortable, “a _friend_. But we never went. I passed the class but that was the extent of it. I’ve never been out there, you know, just for fun.”

“So, this is your first time?”

“That’s right.”

She gets the unnerving feeling that he’s a little anxious and it would be the perfect moment to tease him about it, if he didn’t look so fucking genuine and all kinds of adorable. Damn those Baratheon blue eyes of his.

“It’ll be fun. Just stay close to me and I’ll help guide you. Anyone else will just give you shit and Yara might actually try to drown you.”

They laugh in synchronization as they meet the others up on deck, all dressed and prepared just like every other thousandth time they’ve done this.

After everyone is ready with their fins and masks on and the comms are on and working properly, they line up on the side of the deck, lower this time, much similar to their trust exercise at the beginning of the trip, ready to make the jump.

This time Missandei counts them down and with a quick simultaneous jump and a generous splash of ocean blue, they all make it under the surface without a hitch, the tanks giving them plenty of oxygen and the masks giving them a clear view of the sea bed and a clear voice to each other.

Once the bubbles and uptake of sand subsides, Missandei asks, “Everyone good, comms working?”

They each confirm their comms are in good standing and begin to make the trek towards the pod, the dolphins inching towards them in wondrous curiosity.

Gendry looks to Arya swimming beside him and smiles but then it quickly fades, “If the pod is this close, that means there probably aren’t any sharks, nearby right?”

She laughs and reaches out to touch one on the noise, the animal bopping her hand amusedly, “Right.”

The water is cooler than she remembers but still just as thrilling as ever. The schools of fish, the amazing colors of the ocean and the reefs, it’s all just as exciting as it was her first time being under when she was just ten years old.

“Be glad that cut on your leg isn’t too deep, you’d draw the sharks right to us with all that blood.”

Yara quickly chimes in, “What cut? I only punched him in the arm. I’m not getting blamed for any shark attacks out here.”

The others laugh before Arya explains on Gendry’s behalf, “He tripped while trying to dodge you, so inadvertently, you’re partially at fault.”

They continue to swim around, marveling at both the dolphins and the colorful fish nearby and surprisingly, none of them feel the urge to dig into the sand like they normally tend to do down here.

“I wouldn’t have been chasing him if you hadn’t let him wake me up, Stark.”

Rickon laughs, “She’s got a point there, sis.”

Arya rolls her eyes and since there’s a little light inside her mask and with Gendry being right next to her and he smirks in response and she laughs, “Fine. So, if something happens to Baratheon, me, you, and him, are all one-third at fault, happy?”

Yara agrees with a small chuckle but then goes back to having fun with Missandei exploring the area and she hears the others play excitedly with the pod, all expect for Gendry who seems to be having a hard time adjusting to the new experience, “I’d be happy if I wasn’t getting sand all up my ass, I don’t know how you guys deal with this all the time.”

He really should watch what he says around her because he really set himself up for her unashamed teasing, “Oh, come on, I’m sure that’s not the only thing you’ve ever had up there.”

She doesn’t look directly at him when she says it but from the way his posture suddenly starts shaking and she hears his laughter, she knows he took her jab lightly, “Why are so curious? You are telling me the other night wasn’t enough and you want to try something new, Stark?”

Okay, maybe she set herself up for that one too and she’s actually impressed that he can take her shit and throw it right back to her, not many have been able to do so in the past.

Arya keeps her mouth closed and focuses on her breathing as she pushes a force of water in his direction and then gives him the middle finger when he looks her way.

For the remainder of their temporary break and exploration, Arya avoids Gendry and his stupidly handsome face every time it lights up when he sees something else fascinating under the ocean.

***

When Gendry first opened his eyes this morning, he wasn’t expecting to actually be excited for the day, but a sudden and overwhelming feeling of excited anticipation washed over him as soon as his feet hit the floor.

Despite the mishap that Arya caused that resulted in his unfortunate knee injury and being chased down by an enraged woman, he’s had a really good fucking day and he suspects there’s not a lot at this point that could ruin it.

And Arya, well Arya is growing on him in unexpected ways but that’s not going to stop him from getting a little bit of revenge on her when she is at her most vulnerable and won’t see it coming. But for now, he’s keeping the peace and hopes that the rest of their days on this trip continues like today did.

They spent longer on their break than they would have liked to and even longer getting moving back towards their destination so by the time they arrive to the coordinates, the sun is beginning to set and Hot Pie has their dinner ready to be served.

He makes sure to sit as far away from Yara as possible even though she insists there’s no bad blood between them after the whole PA incident, but he’s not taking any chances.

After they’re all done eating, Hot Pie and Rickon venture off to who knows where while Yara offers to clean up their gear from the impromptu diving adventure with the dolphins while Missandei and Mya clean the kitchen from their meal.

He thinks that maybe he’ll just retreat to his room early and clean up some of his luggage that he only unpacked half-assed the night before, but when he comes upon the rec room, soft noises fill his ears. Noises of familiar plays and whistle blowing.

He peeks inside to find Arya sitting in front of the television screen, her eyes focused on the hockey game that’s playing, one he recognizes he’s already seen from earlier that season.

“Mind if I join you?” He asks the question but doesn’t wait for her to respond before he’s sitting down on the small couch beside her, their arms almost touching, and her warmth is surprisingly relaxing.

“That depends, are you going to spoil the ending for me? That tends to be a favorite hobby of yours.”

She gives him a quick sarcastic smirk before turning her attention back to the game and he laughs at her jab of the first time they met, “I’ve seen this game, yes, but I won’t tell you what happens.”

“How many of these do you have recorded?”

She shrugs absentmindedly, “A few, had to make sure I saved all the ones I missed so I’d have something to watch while we’re out here.”

“Nice.” His lips curve into a downward smile in appreciation as they watch the game in silence.

While the quite is as content as it can be, Gendry feels as if he needs to say a few things and when she turns to him, she doesn’t look annoyed like he thought she might, “Sorry about that, by the way. Not sure if I apologized sooner.”

“Look, it’ll be easier if we just put our past behind us. As in everything that happened _before_ we met again at the docks. No lingering hostility, okay? Friends?”

She holds out her hand for him to shake and he gazes at it a second before he’s reaching out and touching her, returning the gesture firmly.

He feels a spark when he touches her, much like the spark he felt the first time they kissed, and he wonders if she feels it too. But he doesn’t say anything about it, better to leave that in the past like she suggested and if that happens every time their skin meets, he’ll just have to learn how to not touch her. Shouldn’t be too hard considering they’re _just friends_ and all.

“You know I don’t like making new friends so easily so you should take this as a compliment.” He gives her a toothy grin and she groans in response.

“You’re so stupid. You know you’re going to have to be friends with everyone else too, right? We’re like a family and despite what I said before, that does include you now too.”

He sighs heavily and leans back against the couch while folding his arms across his chest, “I know you’re right, but that’s going to take time. I’m not going to suck up to anyone to be their friend, it has to come naturally. Although Hot Pie and I do seem to be making progress since we have to share a room.”

She gives him a quick smile, but it doesn’t meet her eyes, “But for you, I promise to make an effort.”

The smile she gives him at that is brighter and more friendly than the previous one and he’s definitely going to be keeping that promise.

“Now, what the fuck was with Tarley’s foul in the first half?”

They talk hockey the rest of the night and it’s just the beginning to a beautifully renowned friendship.

**Six Weeks Later**

**June 6, 2020 -- 14:38**

“Good, yeah, now move that there. But make sure it’s firmly planted.”

“It’s fine, Ar.” He states strongly before hearing her small sigh of relief.

Her instructions are clear, and Gendry follows through with completing their grid flawlessly, to which Arya appreciates happily with a clumsy underwater high-five with semi wrinkled hands.

Over the past month and a half, they’ve managed to scope out and eliminate about five miles of the area around the coordinates they started from, so far with zero substantial finds within that range.

And within these past six weeks, Gendry finds that he’s been a quick study when it comes to the necessary steps, they take to find treasure. Although he’s a little impatient with the fact they haven’t found anything in this area yet.

Collectively they’d agreed on using the special metal detectors Tywin obtained, a special machine that detects more than just regular metal, to search a preplanned area and haven’t had that much luck since they started about four hours ago. Granted they still are taking all the precautions to not stay under too long at a time to combat decompression sickness.

Rickon, Mya, and Yara went down first and before they finished, they laid out the area for the others to start from.

Yara, Gendry, and Arya put the final touches on their search grid when Yara goes back up for the detectors while Gendry and Arya make sure the fence is secured.

They go back over it a few times while waiting for Yara to return, “You know, after all this time I would take offense to you doubting my abilities but I’ve noticed you double check everyone’s work, so I know it’s nothing personal.”

Arya lets out a huff in her mask and it fogs up the window for a second before going back to normal, “I can’t help it, I just know how important this is and I like to make sure everything is perfect. If we had the sandblaster tube or the air lifts out today, I wouldn’t be this way cause that stuff is different. It’s the grid and the mapping that really gets to me you know. Location is everything in this business.”

“You’re such a nerd, Stark.”

“Don’t act like you are suddenly any different. I’ve seen the way you get when Mya pulls out the side scan sonar.”

He waves her off just as Yara returns and the start up the machine, waiting anxiously for that familiar, ear retching beeping sound they have yet to experience so far.

They each stick to their third of the grid and after about twenty minutes, Arya’s detector starts going off dramatically, startling all of them simultaneously as she yells out unnecessarily in the comms, “I found something!”

Both Gendry and Yara drop theirs where they are and swim over to where Arya is searching frantically in the sand for the reason her machine went off, splashing sand all over the other two but not caring for a single second.

Once the commotion decreases and the sand settles, he watches as Arya picks up a small rock, visually unimpressive at first sight.

“Are you sure that’s it?”

She flips it around a few times with her fingers, studying the old surface.

“Definitely, it’s something. We just have to get it back up there and figure out what.”

He listens as Arya switches her comms to the PA system on the boat, “Guys, we’re coming back up. Get the tank ready.”

“Copy that.” He hears Rickon’s voice through her mask and together they swim carefully back up to the surface.

Once their gear is off, they head straight for the treasure room, as Gendry has nicknamed it despite it having yet to hold any actual treasure, and Arya and Mya begin to fiddle with chemicals and machines that he’s unfamiliar with.

“You told me that you’d have to wait until we found something in order to show me how this works, so show me the magic, Stark.”

Arya glances at Mya, not really speaking to anyone in particular when she mumbles the word _insufferable_ while Gendry watches on from a few feet away.

“Saltwater converts silver into silver sulfide. Electrolytic reduction reverses the process, that’s what this thing does.”

Gendry nods along and understands most of what’s happening although he’s a little distracted by how excited Arya is.

After a short while, the tank reveals a small silver coin with a symbol and two words written on it.

“That’s real silver, right? Does that mean we’re close?”

His excitement for them both begins to dissipate when he sees her eyes lose a little bit of the hope she just once held when they got out of the water, “Maybe. We need to hit the library.”

With the coin now back to its original form, the lot of them, Hot Pie included head down to the library to try to find something concrete on where the coin originated from.

After half an hour of everyone pitching in on looking through the books, its Rickon that hits the mark, “Found it!”

“Valar Morghulis. It means _All Men Must Die.”_

While the men groan at the quote, the ladies announce their liking for the old saying.

“Where’s it from?” Mya asks while taking the book from Rickon who continues to stare at the page as he reads over her shoulder, “Braavos. More specifically, _The House of Black and White_.”

Hot Pie’s eyes widen slightly, “I’ve heard of that. It was like a weird cult or something. And it’s from the same time period, so that’s good, right?”

Yara looks skeptical and voices her concern as to not get their hopes up, “Not necessarily. From what we know, there’s no record of Cat ever being connected to such a place, it might not be relevant to her at all.”

But Gendry keeps his eyes focused on Arya, waiting to see her reaction to _her_ find, “What do you think, Ar? What is your gut telling you about this coin? Is this a lead or should we ignore it and act like we never found it?”

Her eyebrows furrow in intense concentration as she flips the coin back and forth between her chilled fingers, “I don’t know why, but I feel a strong connection to this coin. Like it was a part of Cat’s story.”

Gendry shakes his head and keeps his eyes locked on hers, “I say we use this as a lead and go from there, from where I found it.”

Missandei looks around the room and stops on Yara in particular, “Are we all in agreement?”

A unanimous decision is made, and they accept this coin as their first find and a win they’ve longed for since the start of this mission.

Arya quickly marks the spot on the map, the exact location of where it was recovered so that they can continue on and hopefully find more clues like it tomorrow.

After calling it a day and wrapping everything up they’ve worked on, Arya locks the coin in the safe, securing it for the future of the mission, a future he knows now they are sure to have.

***

**June 12, 2020 – 14:17**

Almost a week passes with nothing else found that’s substantial to Cat or the House of Black and White, but nevertheless, they continue on with faith that not all is yet lost.

While Gendry, Mya, and Rickon are all down below using the sand blaster, Yara and Arya stay in the bridge to watch out for any unwanted visitors that could threaten their safety under the water.

Staying in contact with the group below to mark out the area they’ve searched so far today, the GPS indicates that an unknown vessel is about fifty miles out and headed their way.

“Guys, you might want to shut it down and get back up here. We might need to move anchor.”

“On our way,” is the response they get from Mya, worry subtlety lingering in her voice.

Once they are back on deck and dry, they meet the others in the bridge, weary of who might be approaching.

“You don’t think it’s…” Rickon asks, but leaves the question hanging in the air.

“Most likely. We should move a few miles out temporarily; we don’t want them snooping around where we are now.”

Gendry nudges Arya with his elbow, “Who are we talking about?”

She crosses her arms and exasperation is clear in her delicate features, “Trouble. Trouble doesn’t knock around here, it _floats_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The three part story line set to Imagine Dragon's 'Believer' is next.


	6. first things first, I'ma say all the words inside my head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick meeting, pertinent new information, and a gathering with the enemy. 
> 
> Part One of Three
> 
> Believer by Imagine Dragons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to have this out yesterday, but shit happens. 
> 
> Shout out to @mayb (aka my name twin) for all the support. ♥
> 
> Side note, if you want to see the mood boards for these chapters, I have them on my tumblr, the most recent one pinned to the top of my blog.

**_First things first_ **

**_I'm a say all the words inside my head_ **

**_I'm fired up and tired of_ **

**_The way that things have been_ **

****

**June 12, 2020 – 16:42**

“Why are they hugging?”

Gendry steadies his strong frame on the small fishing boat as he and Mya stand idly by watching Arya greets the strangers known as The Brotherhood with open arms and a bright smile that to him seems a little forced, and yet still so genuine at the same time, thoroughly confusing him more and more the longer the three of them stay here and away from their own ship where their friends are sure to be waiting anxiously for their return.

Earlier that day, once they realized that the Brotherhood was nearing closer to the area they’ve been encircling over the past week, they decided to move anchor to a leisurely spot about ten miles away from their grid, hoping they would follow the new course, to which they did without fail.

So now, Gendry has found himself in the middle of whatever rivalry these two crews have going on, something to which he is still not privy to. He hasn’t officially met any of the brotherhood yet, as him and Mya simply watch on from where Arya greets them on deck, but from what he can tell, they seem harmless enough. All except for Beric who ironically enough, has an eyepatch in typical pirate fashion and he doesn’t know if it’s for show or from a real eye injury.

“I don’t get it, if this _pirate gang_ is so bad, why are we on their boat? And why is Arya being so nice to them?”

Mya snorts quickly and quietly, but then regains her composure, “First off, I suggest you never say that again if you want to keep your fingers, at least not around them.”

She lowers her tone, very aware of the lingering eyes on the Baratheon siblings by the other men with fake plastered smiles on their smug faces, “Secondly, believe it or not, Arya and some of the brotherhood go way back, to even before she started salvaging. But you know the saying, ‘ _keep your friends close_ …’”

Gendry cuts her off and finishes the rest of the quote for her with a snarky attitude, “ _and your enemies closer_ , yeah I get it. I just never thought anyone actually lived by that sentiment.”

Okay, so maybe Arya is smarter than he gave her credit for when she first asked him to come out here, but that’s the other part he still doesn’t understand and the question on the back of his mind still begs to be asked.

“Why am I here? I don’t even know these people.”

Before Mya has a chance to answer his question, Arya jumps back into the boat and interrupts their conversation as they take off back towards their own ship, “You’re the muscle, stupid. I need your arms, not your brains.”

He laughs sarcastically, because of course that was her game plan, “I feel used. So, so used.”

Arya shrugs nonchalantly as her soft brown hair whips in the salty scented wind, “You’ll get used to it.”

Mya turns to face Arya in the boat as the tiny engine purrs along, carrying them closer to their destination, “What do they want?”

“Says they’re out prospecting. Saw a blip on the radar and thought they’d check it out, make sure no one was in distress.”

Mya huffs in indignation, “Bullshit. They’re snooping and they know it. They just don’t want to admit it, especially not to us.”

By the time they reach the ship once again, the others are waiting on deck for their return just as Gendry knew they would be, perhaps out of both curiosity and worry, “I want eyes on them at all times, we’ll rotate shifts, if they so much as piss off the side of that boat, I want to know about it.”

Gendry struggles to catch up as he walks back up to the bridge with Mya beside him and Arya proudly taking lead in front, “So definitely more enemies than friends?”

Her blue eyes shine in the lowlight, “Right now, yes. But anything can happen. We need to watch each other’s backs now more than ever.”

Gendry nods in agreement, an unfamiliar feeling rising in his chest, a feeling of skepticism, fear, and an overwhelming drive of protectiveness for the people around him. Something he’s never experienced before, but the latter almost seems as if it’s second nature now. 

In the bridge he watches as Arya pins a small piece of paper to the bulletin board on the wall, “What’s that?”

“Their sat number, in case we need to reach them.”

“Will we?”

“Gods, I hope not.”

*******

Arya offers, but her voice makes it sound more persistent than merely volunteering, to take the first shift of watching Beric’s crew, letting the others have the afternoon off until they need to rotate who’s turn it is next.

She grips the large binoculars with both hands, feeling the weight of them against her face as she looks upon the old ship from their perch in the bridge, Gendry and Missandei offering to keep her company, and although Missy’s presence is genuine, she suspects that Gendry is more curious about their rivals than he initially let on, hence his lingering around when he could be off doing whatever he wants.

“So what? These so-called pirates just parade around pretending to find their own shipwrecks while simultaneously waiting for the perfect opportunity to snatch and grab, claiming someone else’s find as their own?”

Arya drops the binoculars to her chest before giving a quick look at Missandei and then turning back to Gendry and stating in unison, “ _Yes_.”

Missandei kicks her feet up and settles back in her chair while folding her hands gently in her lap, “You’d never know as much unless it happens to you and fortunately for us it did and a lesson was learned, but it was futile all the same. They grabbed our first find on our first mission while feigning help, claiming they needed fuel or some shit, I can’t even remember everything. But it turns out the piece they stole, a gold necklace thought to be from they same time frame as our very own Cat of the Canals, was a fake. Got it appraised and it was nothing more than fashion jewelry from YI-TI, probably thrown off a passing cruise ship or something.”

“Serves ‘em right, fucking bastards.” Arya bitterly states as she repositions the spectacles back against her grey eyes.

Missandei leans over to where Gendry is leaning against the counter beside her chair, “Arya’s held a grudge ever since, with good reason.”

Keeping her eyes trained on the open ocean in front of them, “You don’t think it’s suspicious that they just randomly show up a week after we found that coin?”

Missandei smiles gently at Arya, “And how would they know we have that?”

“I don’t know, but I still don’t trust the timing. And we have to keep that coin safe.”

“She’s right,” Rickon appears in the doorway with a book in his hands, “Apparently that coin is worth a fortune on the black market in this century. I did some digging and it can get you in nearly _any_ door in Braavos, so my sister’s right, we cannot let that thing out of our sight.”

Rickon joins Gendry at the counter before handing the book over to him, “You found that out by reading this?”

He holds up the book and waits for Rickon’s response, “I may have made a call or two when we first found it and my sources just got back to me with that pertinent info. But it doesn’t matter, that coin is legit and more valuable than we know.”

“And can we trust this source of yours?”

“Oh, most definitely, mate.”

The room goes eerily quiet just as the satellite phone starts ringing off the wall and all eyes fixate on the device simultaneously, none of them moving an inch to cease the incessant noise.

Arya’s feet remain frozen in place as the phone rings, a chill running down her spine knowing it’s them and knowing that they’re still up to no good.

Sensing her discomfort, Missandei rises from her chair and answers the phone with a graceful hello.

Few words are spoken and soon enough, she’s ending the call and looking at the others with a hesitant smile, “That was Thoros. The brotherhood would like us to join them for dinner tonight on their vessel.”

***

“No, no way in hell are we all getting on that boat.”

Arya is screaming out her frustrations while pacing down the hall on the way to the rec room, stopping every few feet to turn back the other way and do it all over again, her knuckles wearing out from all the nervous popping she’s doing with Gendry and Rickon following closely behind while Yara and Mya stay in the bridge on pirate watch.

Flopping herself down on the couch with a resonated sigh, she rakes her hands over her face, itching to punch something but ultimately refraining since the only thing surrounding her are the men looking upon her questioningly. 

“Come on, Arya. It’s going to look suspicious if we don’t go, like we’re hiding something…”

Her younger brother’s voice trails off, hoping that she catches his drift in reference to the exact thing they are in fact trying to hide.

“I think Rick’s right, we have to go.”

Missandei enters then and flops down next to Arya, whole-heartedly agreeing with the boys, “Are you just nervous about going because Anguy is going be there?”

She bites her bottom lip and watches Gendry balance himself from foot to foot, speaking up in apparent curiosity, “Who?”

“Anguy Archer. He has a _thing_ for Arya.”

She remains complacent, if only to get a rise from him and keeps her eyes locked on Gendry’s whose own blue remain fixated on the floor while his jaw ticks in what looks to be some sort of anger he can’t control, but for the life of her she has no idea why. He hasn’t even met any of them yet. 

“Then there’s Lem and Tom, along with Harwin, Beric and Thoros.”

Gendry says nothing, as Missandei names each member of the Brotherhood and Arya feels more and more dread about this dinner invitation with each passing second, but still knows deep down they are right about needing to avoiding suspicion.

“Fine, but I still don’t want everyone to go. I’d feel better if someone stayed behind and kept an eye on the safe.”

Gendry’s voice surprises her and she jumps slightly, her chest heaving with excitement. She’s not use to him not having anything to say, but it seems he’s found his voice again, “Wouldn’t it be easier to avoid suspicion by just keeping an eye on each of them instead? I mean there’s what six of them and seven of us? As long as we each have eyes on them all night, they won’t be able to sneak away and board the ship without one of us knowing about it.”

Arya shakes her head slowly, thinking about his suggestion and wondering why the fuck she didn’t think of that herself. The fact that the Brotherhood showing up has gotten her too into her head and she can’t think in a sensible manner right now. Not to mention how attractive Gendry looks standing there all broody and angry at the fact that one of the Brotherhood has a crush on her.

Perhaps it’s just over-protectiveness since he’s grown quite attached to this group over the past six weeks, something she wanted him to do and she smiles to herself at the fact that she now has a new member of her pack, and a friend.

She wasn’t expecting to take to Gendry as a friend as fast as she did, but he’s grown on her and she’s happy that she can now think of him as one of her closest mates.

But right at the moment, he’s just someone else she has to protect from the enemy that sits just a few hundred yards away. 

***

He’s pacing nervously up and down the hall waiting for Arya to emerge from her room, his body anxious with anticipation of what he’s about to walk into and experience with this new atmosphere that is the infamous Brotherhood.

He leans back against the wall and kicks one foot up to rest against the wood while tapping his fingers on the fabric of his cargo shorts, feeling the sweat begin to build up on his skin under his long-sleeved shirt. He figured his outfit choice was adequate enough as these men don’t seem like the type to really give a fuck what anyone wears to a friendly dinner between _colleagues_ , _co-workers_ , whatever the fuck it is that they are to each other.

Allies of the sea perhaps, although an alliance is less likely in this type of situation. He knows that the others, Arya especially, sees them as their highest level of competition by far.

Gendry rubs the palm of his hands across the sides of his thighs just as Arya walks out of her room, her brown hair bouncing in soft waves and his eyes trail the length of her body, marveling at her choice of black skinny jeans with holes in the knees and a white crop top, simple and yet something that matches her personality perfectly.

“Ready to get this over with?” She speaks casually, but he can hear the hesitation in her voice, a sense of unease he’s never heard from her in the entire time he’s known her and he vows right then and there a silent prayer to make this as easy as he can for her.

The short ride over to the Brotherhood’s boat is painfully quiet, with each of them not knowing what to say to ease some of the tense radiating through them all. The wind blows briskly in the cool night summer air and as they step off the boat and onto the other, Gendry meets the eyes of someone he doesn’t recognize from when he, Mya, and Arya came over earlier in the day.

His eyes meet Gendry’s instantly and he feels a ting of distain already at the way the man is smiling at him, “Hey, mate. Name’s Anguy, you’re the only one of this lot that I’ve yet to meet.”

Once the name spills from his lips, he instantly knows why this man makes him so uncomfortable. Anguy, the one that has the thing for Arya.

He forces a painful smile to appear on his face to show he’s happy to return the handshake that’s offered, but his grip gives him away fierce fully as Anguy winces subtly at the strong gesture.

He releases his hand and watches as the other man rubs the muscle lightly and clears his throat before announcing that dinner will be ready shortly and that they can grab a drink if they’d like.

He walks away leaving the crew alone for the first time since arriving, and Arya immediately turns to address them all, “Absolutely no drinking. We’re here to play nice so they’ll leave us be. Don’t fuck it up and keep an eye out for anything fishy.”

Rickon and Hot Pie giggle beside each other at the pun but Arya isn’t having any of it and swiftly smacks her younger brother upside his head, “I’m serious, Rick.”

“Ow, yeah I got it, I got it.” He rubs the back of his head, his shaggy hair going wild with the motions, “Me and HP will keep an eye on Tom and Lem. Missy should take Thoros, he turns into a giant teddy bear when she’s around.”

“Thoros gets that way around _any_ woman.”

Mya steps over to the side and grabs Yara by the arm, “Sounds good, Rick. Yara and I will watch out for Harwin and Beric, so why don’t Gendry and Arya keep Anguy company?”

He studies his sister’s face, mischievous amusement blazing in her Baratheon blue eyes and he suspects that her pairing has everything to do with his recent history with Arya and the fact that Anguy holds a crush for the Stark princess.

With everyone already walking away to find their Brotherhood counter-parts, Arya turns to Gendry with a shy smile, “You don’t have to hang around if you don’t want to, I know small talk really isn’t your thing.”

She nudges him with her elbow but all he feels is the gentle breeze rather than her warm touch, “It’s not, but it’s fine. Really.”

The last thing he wants to do is leave that miserable bloke alone with the object of his affections. So, he gladly follows Arya as they make their way through the dingy old fishing boat, the décor and smell being exactly how he imagined it. Dirty, old, and definitely _fishy_ , in all sense of the word.

“Hey guys, you sure you don’t want a drink?”

“We’re sure.” He says flatly, not wanting to entertain the fact that every time Anguy looks Arya’s way it makes his skin crawl, like she’s the ultimate treasure he’s after. This overwhelming sense of whatever it is he is feeling right now confuses the fuck out of him, but he still plays into it, regardless of where it takes him.

They’re on the opposite side of the ship now watching from afar as Mya and Yara laugh amusedly with Beric and Harwin.

“So, how’d you get to join this lot?”

It takes Gendry a few seconds to realize that he’d just been asked a question and when Arya looks at him expectedly with wide eyes, he clears his throat and tries to regain his bearings, “I uh, my sister asked me. Mya. But I actually met this one before anyone else.”

He gives Arya playful smirk to which she returns just as smugly before shaking her head with a smile, “Yeah, we kind of started a bar fight the night before we left King’s Landing.”

“Really? I bet that’s an interesting story.”

He keeps his eyes locked on hers as he responds, her own grey eyes burning deep within his soul, “Not really. The interesting part is what happened afterwards.”

It’s a memory he’ll never get tired of recalling.

Anguy genuinely looks confused and does not take the hint as quick as others in this conversation would, “What happened after?”

He smiles subtly, the corner of his lips turning slightly upwards as Arya blushes profusely before turning her gaze from his to the sticky brown floor. He looks back at Anguy with a defeated look that suggests if he thought about it hard enough, he’d figure it out.

He watches the light flicker on in Anguy’s mind.

“Oh, well… uh, that is interesting.” He looks pained and for a split second, Gendry actually feels a bit of empathy for the man.

“So, are you two or like, uh, _together_?”

“No!” They yell in unison and it’s just as awkward as you’d think it’d be with her high-pitched voice and his broody demeanor. They were quick to respond, possibly so quick that Anguy looks back and forth between them in astonishment.

Perhaps, calming down a few notches will make it more believable, “No, mate. Just a one-time thing. And we didn’t even know who the other was then, it was just a coincidence that we’d ended up here.”

Arya gathers herself and joins in on the explanation, “Right.” She doesn’t elaborate further than her simple agreement and he feels the awkwardness radiating off them both in hurricanic waves.

“Right. Anyway, so what have you all been up to lately, haven’t seen you around in a while?”

Gendry is grateful at the change of subject but when the question registers in Arya’s mind and he watches as the wheels turn violently in her head, he thinks maybe they should go back to talking about their hook-up instead.

“Why? Did Beric tell you to ask me that?”

“What? No, I just…” He thinks that maybe she didn’t mean for it to come out as sharp and twisted as it did and when he notices how confused and concerned Anguy is that he offended her somehow, Gendry thinks that maybe the question was just as innocent as it seemed.

But Arya isn’t seeing it that way.

He vaguely registers the eyes watching them from afar where Hot Pie and Tom stand next to the smoking grill as he indistinctively follows Arya across the deck to where Beric is speaking with his sister, her fists clenched at her sides and her chest heaving in panted rage.

“Ms. Stark, lovely to see you again as always.” Beric greets her politely, but his efforts go unappreciated.

“Cut the shit, Dondarrion. Tell me what the fuck you’re really doing out here!”

“What are you insinuating Arya?”

“Oh, you know damn well what I’m talking about, don’t play dumb with me Beric. I’ve put up with your sneaky shit for far too long and I’m bloody sick of it. My head is constantly screaming at myself to just fucking tell you how I really feel but I’m also on guard around you and your stupid crew because I am terrified you’re going to come in here and take something that’s important to me and fuck everything up because that’s what you do.”

He can’t help but to stare in awe with the rest of them as she absolutely slams every thought, she’s ever had about these people in his face.

“You’re a bloody thief and all you care about is taking what isn’t yours for a quick payday without doing any of the hard work that it takes to find these remarkable things in the ocean. You tried to fool me once and it backfired on you for good reason. I don’t want your friendship; I don’t want to exchange war stories and I certainly don’t want your fucking food.”

She’s seething with anger now and she has to stop talking in order to take a deep breath, the boat eerily silent as the waves crash against the iron, “I want you to leave us alone, once and for all. Stop sneaking around us, stop looking for information as to what we’re doing out here. Just go, Beric, and find someone else to bother with your stupid games.”

She stalks off towards the dark end of the ship with one final scream of frustration and it’s quite understood between the rest of them that their amicable evening is now over.

Gendry tries to follow after her, but his eyes betray him as he struggles to adjust to the new blackness of the night, and just like that, she’s out of his sight like a silent thief in the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two will make up for this chapter being so short, lots of stuff planned for that one.


	7. second thing second, don't you tell me what you think that I could be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her cheeks are still flushed, and he knows it’s not from the short hike uphill, “You’re cute when you get all flustered.”  
> “Shut the fuck up and tell me what you want to tell me before I push you down this hill.”  
> She swats his hand away when he makes a motion as if to pinch her cheek like you would a fat chubby baby, “And when you threaten me with violence.” 
> 
> Part Two of Three
> 
> "Believer" By Imagine Dragons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is long af, and I regret nothing, so enjoy. 
> 
> Songs Featured:  
> "Africa" by Weezer (Cover) 
> 
> "What A Feeling" by Irene Cara

**_Second thing second_ **

**_Don't you tell me what you,_ **

**_think that I could be_ **

**_I'm the one at the sail,_ **

**_I'm the master of my sea_ **

****

****

**June 13th, 2020 -- 09:02**

“So, you’re telling me he’s coming here? Like on this ship? Are you out of your mind?”

When Harwin called her on the sat phone, she was reluctant to answer and that’s putting it mildly, but despite her ill feelings towards all things Brotherhood right now, she still had enough grace to be polite and hear him out as a friendly curtesy.

She blinks at Gendry a few times to see if he will take her momentary silence as an answer to what she assumes is slightly rhetorical questions, and when he offers her the same response in return, she just rolls her eyes and sighs dramatically.

“Yes, Harwin is coming here. Yes, on this ship. And that is to be determined, I did fuck you so that whole ordeal is a conversation for another day, right now I have to go tell the others he’s coming so they don’t accidentally but on purpose toss him overboard when he gets here.”

Arya figures that would be the end of it, that he would take her answer and leave it alone, so when he follows her out of the bridge and down to the dining hall where the others are busy eating the breakfast Hot Pie prepared that she has yet to dive into, she thinks that perhaps he might have more on his mind that just a few dumbfounded questions.

“But why though?”

She opens her mouth to speak, her brain already preparing a sarcastic answer when he finishes his thought to something a bit more rational, “Not why are you meeting him face to face, why does he want to come over here in the first place? What does he want?”

Okay, that is a little better. That she can answer honestly because the truth is, she has no fucking clue. She’s only assuming what the details of his visits would include. 

“He said he wanted to apologize although I’m not sure what exactly for. I guess he wants to get back on my good side. I don’t even know, it’s all just so exhausting and I barely slept last night.”

After her impromptu fit throwing towards Beric, Arya made her way back to the boat and didn’t say another word as they all traveled back to their own ship without the dinner that was offered from the Brotherhood, nor did any of them try to reach out until this morning with Harwin’s unexpected phone call.

They’re standing outside the dining hall now where laughter filters through the wooden door, “But Harwin and I go way back. He and my dad used to be friends and I know underneath all the ruggedness, he’s still a decent person, so I agreed to hear him out.”

Gendry nods to the room they’re standing next to, “And them?”

“They’ll be fine. It’s just a conversation, Gendry. Nothing more to it.”

They finally enter, Arya first followed by Gendry who wastes no time in digging into the food that’s been waiting for them both since it was sat down on the table, and fortunately for them, it’s still warm.

Rickon, in between bites of bread, manages to get enough words out to string together a nearly coherent sentence, “What’s going on?”

He swallows thickly when Arya gives him a _are you kidding me look_ , knowing years of growing up around his older brothers have given him a few bad habits he’s yet to break, “Who was on the phone?”

Arya sits down at the table next to Mya and avoids eye contact with everyone apart from Gendry who eyes her cautiously from his seat next to his roommate, “Harwin. He wants to talk so he’s coming over around midday. But just him, no one else.”

Mya’s eyes dart back and forth between Arya and Gendry waiting for one of them to give something away, a tell neither wants to release, “Excuse me?”

Gendry merely shrugs and goes about eating, leaving the explanation up to Arya, “Look, I know I went off a little last night and I know that it was probably a bit premature and I think he just wants to check up on me, clear the air, so to speak. It’s fine.”

Yara focuses intently on Arya from Gendry’s other side, “You sure about that?”

She sighs heavily, feeling the defeat and anger that’s been simmering under the surface since the night before slowly release from her core, softening her facial features exponentially, “I’m sure.”

Missandei, ever the balance between them all, breaks some of the awkwardness with a simple question, “He knew your dad right, Harwin?”

She thinks back momentarily on those days in her youth, days of frequent visits of all of Ned Stark’s old friends. Harwin in particular would always bring each of them, the children, a gift, something unique he found on his travels and his days out at sea before her father introduced her to the big adventures.

“Aye, that he did. He was always kind to us, and I don’t expect now to be any different.”

Rickon smiles brightly, mouth empty this time, learning his lesson if only temporarily, “Well, if you’re okay with it then, so are we.”

The group collectively gives nods and words of confirmation and some of the guilt she was feeling about making this decision without them ebbs away as well, all except for the weird feeling she has in her gut every time Gendry’s eyes meet hers, filled with caution and worry, like he’s her protector and he’s careful to watch over her and shield her from anything shady Harwin or the other members of the Brotherhood might be up to. 

It’s as equally annoying as it is comforting, and she finds that she actually doesn’t mind it as much as she would have used to, a warm feeling rising in her chest and spreading throughout her body when she catches his eye and he gives her a small reassuring smile in return.

*******

Arya waits on the deck of the boat just as the sun reaches its peak high in the sky glistening over the summer sea, the wind blowing softly giving away for the perfect weather for such an unpredictable day.

She’s been waiting out here for around half an hour now and she knows she’s being watched from the shadows, but she can’t figure out if he’s just plain bored or thinking that perhaps as soon as Harwin steps foot on their boat he’ll do something crazy, like try to kidnap her or something just as equally dumb.

“You can come out you know, its super fucking creepy that you’re just lurking about like a stalker.”

Gendry steps out into the open sun, the warmth and brightness blinding him for a moment before his eyes re-adjust to being fully out in the open now, “I’m not stalking you, I’m just worried.”

“About me? Oh, Gendry. We had one night together; I think that’s taking it a little too far don’t you think?” She folds her hands across the space of her heart on her chest and pouts her lips, using her best teasing voice.

“Don’t worry, princess. I’m not worried about something happening to _you_ , I’m worried that something is going to happen to _him_ by _your_ hands. Those soft, deadly hands.”

He takes a few steps to close the space between them and then crosses his arms over his chest, his muscles flexing in all the right ways that drive her absolutely mad over how fucking beautiful he is.

“Fuck off, I’m not going to do anything to any of them unless it is in self-defense, and even then, the chances of that happening are slim to fucking none. So, relax, Hercules.”

She watches Gendry’s face turn from amusement to on edge in a split second as he looks past her shoulder out to the vast open sea surrounding them, “Is that him?”

Arya whips her head around and follows the trail that his blue eyes bore into and sees an older man riding in a small fishing boat, much like the one they have to go back and forth between the large ships, and just like he said on the phone, he’s alone.

They wait patiently for Harwin to tie the boat up so it won’t float away before climbing up the small ladder to meet them on the deck with a bright, yet apologetic smile and a hug for Arya, leaving Gendry with a simple offer of a handshake, and to her surprise, Gendry accepts it politely without a hint of malice on his facial features. And yet, suspicion is still clear to her, but maybe not as obvious to Harwin as he avoids anything but getting to the point of why exactly it is that he is here.

“It’s good to see you, love. I was afraid to see your visit was cut short last night without us getting the chance to catch up.”

Harwin looks cautiously to Gendry and then back to Arya with a soft smile, “Is there a place we can talk in private?”

Arya sighs heavily and motions for the older man to follow her down below, leaving Gendry standing there with nothing else to do but watch them disappear before him.

Knowing that the dining room is empty, she leads Harwin down below and then shuts the door softly behind them, letting him sit down first before she joins him soundlessly.

She relaxes back into her seat and although her demeanor seems to be utterly content with the current situation, her insides are turning into a screaming fit of anxiety, “I won’t apologize for the way I acted last night. It was justified for me to automatically assume that Beric is here to see what we’re up to. I mean you all have never given me a reason in the past to think otherwise, now have you?”

Harwin smiles lightly, but it doesn’t reach his eyes fully, “I’m not looking for an apology, Stark. I’m here to apologize to you.”

“I figured as much, but if you’re not here doing anything wrong like I first thought you were, you shouldn’t have anything to apologize for.”

He sighs dramatically, as if all of his past mistakes need to flood out of his body in this very moment, “I’m sorry that my presence here has you thinking the worst of me, young one. I never wanted you or your siblings to grow up thinking the worst of me.”

“We don’t Harwin, it’s just the whole Brotherhood in general. You guys aren’t exactly upstanding citizens out here.”

“No, we’re not. But things are different now. We’re done with all the deception and we are going to do things the right way from now on.”

Out of all the scenarios of what he had to say to her, she’s afraid to admit to herself that that wasn’t even on the same planet as what she had in mind.

“So, you’re going legit? Since when?”

“For awhile now, I can’t even tell you the last time we tried to snatch up someone else’s find.”

“I find that hard to believe, Beric and Thoros have made a living on scamming people one way or another out of their treasures. They wouldn’t just give that up so easily.”

“It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not, it’s the truth. Therefore, despite what you might have believed at the beginning, we are not here to steal whatever it is you’re after out here. But we did seek you out regardless.”

That’s a little easier to believe, but she’s still unsure as to the reasons why, and that only has her anger simmering on the surface just waiting to be released.

Arya stands from the table abruptly, pushing the chair back and wincing as the noise scraps against the concrete floor, “Then what the fuck do you want from me?”

Harwin waits a beat before answering her question, “We want you to join us. We want to offer you a job and a position with the brotherhood.”

There it is, and she doesn’t even attempt to keep her voice at a normal volume.

“Oh, you guys are so full of shit! You don’t want me on your side because you’re going legit, you just want me because you know I’m one half of the reason this team is even out here, I’m your competition and if you get me to join you, you’re number one opponent is eliminated.”

Before she can get another angry word out, the PA system comes to life with a few seconds of static followed by Gendry’s best airplane attendant voice he used on the first day that ultimately caused Yara’s wrath, and here she thought he had learned his lesson, “To all the passengers of this vessel, if I here any more yelling coming from the dining hall I’m going to break the fucking door down.”

She rolls her eyes but smiles anyways as there seems to be a momentary shuffle, like someone is trying to take the walkie out of Gendry’s hands before Rickon’s voice filters throughout the ship, “Yeah Harwin, I like you and all but if you upset my sister I’ll fuck you up. You…” There’s more commotion and a few muffled words of _stupid_ , and _idiot_ before the system shuts off all together and the room goes quiet again.

“Well I see the youngest Stark and your most recent flame, _Gendry_ is it, getting along nicely in your honor.”

“How do you know about that? Is it just common knowledge out here on the Summer Sea now?”

“Anguy might have been a little chatty last night after you guys left.”

Right, well _whatever_. She has more pressing matters to worry about other than Anguy’s infatuation with her.

Regardless of how she feels about the Brotherhood right now, she still doesn’t trust them and knowing that they have a valuable piece of treasure on the ship has her more on edge than she needs to be so she needs to figure out a way to either get rid of them or distract them long enough to figure out what exactly it is that’s going on with them.

She taps her fingers on the table after sitting back down and keeps her eyes focused on her guest.

It’s still a little early but the idea that appears in her mind just might be exactly what they all need right now, “We need to make a trip to the mainland. To Lys. How about you and the brotherhood join us? I’ll have Tywin set you up at our hotel and we can all have dinner tonight. A do-over perhaps. And we can talk more about your offer. What do you say?”

If he has any suspicions that her motives are anything less than true, he doesn’t show it as he simply says, “ _Perfect_ ,” with a genuine smile. 

*******

Several hours later, they dock their ship at the marina on the beautifully exotic island of Lys and prepare to explore the luscious Greenland while still gathering the supplies they need to restock, all the while keeping an eye on what the Brotherhood could be up to.

Dressed and ready for their first adventure on shore since they departed from Dorne all those weeks ago, Arya in her swimsuit covered by a flowy black sundress, she waits for Rickon to join them as he forgot his sunglasses in his room and had to go back for them.

With a bright smile, her brother rejoins them and throws an arm over Mya’s shoulder, “Everybody ready to fuck some shit up?”

Arya rolls her eyes at Rick and chimes in before anyone can gladly agree, “We need to make this trip count and still get what we need, Hot Pie you’re on grocery detail, right?”

“Aye.”

“And I’m getting the new tanks we need.” Rickon asserts confidently.

“Awesome. And just…” Before she can tell what else is on her mind, she watches as Gendry slows raises his hand like a small child in a classroom waiting patiently for the teacher to finish before he can ask his question.

“Wha- you don’t have to raise you’re hand you dork, just speak.” Even though it’s as equally as annoying as it is adorable, she can’t help but to huff in exasperation.

“Since we’re on a mainland, we can drink now, correct?”

“Fuck yeah, mate.” Yara exclaims excitedly, “Here let me answer for Stark. ‘Yes we can drink, but at the same time we still need to be coherent enough to keep up with what those pirate fuckers are doing, therefore we can drink, but not get so shitfaced we can’t stand up straight.’”

They all break into laughter, including Arya who just can’t help herself, “I wouldn’t use those exact words, but yes, that’s the basis of it. We have a few hours to kill, so go have fun, get drunk if you’d like and we’ll all meet back up later at the restaurant. I have to make sure Tywin’s assistant has everything ready.”

Mumbles and laughter filter in the salty open air as they each de-board the ship one by one, Arya and Gendry being the last to step onto the docks, “Please tell me you are actually going to go have a good time and not stick around here spying all afternoon?”

He gives her a teasing smirk that she wants to slap right off his perfect lips, “You underestimate me, Baratheon. Who says I can’t do both at the same time?”

The smirk is instantly replaced by curious confusion as she subtly points to a few fisherman sitting along the dock, “That one is going to be watching our ship, and him..” she points to another man on down the way sitting a few yards away from the Brotherhood’s boat, knowing they have yet to step onto dry land, “he will be watching theirs. Both are being paid generously for their time.”

His lips form an impressed frown before he says, “Not too shabby. You know your shit, princess. I’m thoroughly impressed.”

She begins walking but he stops her with a soft hand to her forearm, “Wait, how will they contact you?”

She laughs softly as she pulls her cellphone out of her bag, “You know we can use these things, again right?” What with civilization and all?”

Realization hits him right in the face, “Shit, you’re right. We been in the middle of the fucking ocean for so long I completely forgot.”

He looks back at the boat and then to her again, “I left mine in my room.”

Arya’s eyes trail down the dock to where Hot Pie seems to be studying his grocery list, “Why don’t you go help Hot Pie with the food and then when you bring it back to the kitchen, you can grab it then.”

He’s already walking in Hot Pie’s direction when he says, “Good idea, see you later?”

Her heart hammers a bit when he emphasizes it as a question rather than a statement, like he wants to ask to spend time with her when he’s finished.

She clears the lump in her throat before yelling a simple _yeah_ back at him before stalking off to go find Mya with the biggest grin and blush plastered on her sun-kissed face.

*******

After thirty minutes of him and Hot Pie gathering the food and supplies, they needed to restock on the boat, he’s relieved that they’re leaving the market and headed back to a familiar place.

The experience wouldn’t have been as bad if it hadn’t been for the two blonde women eye-fucking him the entirety of the trip. He’s never been interested in that kind of attention, and even though he has the perfect opportunity for another no strings attached hook-up, it’s just not something that’s on his mind right now. In fact, it’s not something he’s even thought about since the night he spent with Arya and then leaving together with her and the others.

But nevertheless, he’s not going to waste this mini adventure on a tropical island, and he’s determined to have fun and finally get a drink after all these weeks without one.

Once all the bags are settled on the small island in the ship’s kitchen, Hot Pie urges him to take off and insists that he can handle the rest and informs him that he’ll catch up with him and the others somewhere on this side of the island a bit later.

Gendry thanks him and then departs happily, heading back down to their room to grab his cellphone before aiming to find someone, anyone from their team he can hang out with if it means he can avoid talking to the local strangers or even any of the Brotherhood.

Phone in hand, he walks out of the room and shuts the wooden door softly behind him, but a noise just down the hall has him on edge as he assumed that Hot Pie was still busy in the kitchen.

He walks slowly to where the noise came from, carefully quiet footsteps leaving no room to give any indication of his presence as more noise is heard, something that sounds like heavy breathing and subtle footsteps advancing further away as Gendry struggles to catch up to the quiet commotion.

Perhaps he’s imagining someone else walking about, ever since the Brotherhood showed up, he’s been more paranoid than ever before.

He checks every room, every hallway that’s near to him before he grabs the walkie off the wall and presses the intercom button for the kitchen, “Hey Hot Pie, you still in there?”

He waits a beat and then sighs with annoyance when Hot Pie picks up, “Still here.”

He closes his eyes and knocks the walkie on his forehead in frustration, a bead of anxiety induced sweat beginning to form, “Okay, just checking. I’m headed out mate.”

He hangs the wired piece back on the hook and makes his way through the ship keeping a careful eye out for anyone that may be lurking. He can’t guarantee that someone was trespassing, but at this point he’s not ruling anything out.

Nothing seems to be out of place and once he makes sure that the ship is empty, save for Hot Pie, he leaves skeptically, looking out for anyone that seems out of place along the dock.

He notices the man that Arya had pointed out earlier that is keeping an eye on things, giving him a questioning look to which the elderly man simply nods in response, his face silently telling Gendry that everything is as it should be.

He still needs to tell the others about it, starting with Arya. He has no doubt she’ll know what to do and quite frankly if someone was lurking around, he has no fucking idea what in the seven hells needs to be done about it.

After walking through town, he finally spots Mya, Missandei, and Yara walking through the gardens, a glass of wine in each of their hands.

“I see we’re starting early then.” He smiles and watches the ladies laugh in return.

“The opportunity was calling little brother.”

He notices then that Arya isn’t in the immediate vicinity and questions on her whereabouts.

“She went to explore the caves, just at the bottom of that hill over there. We heard that they’re pretty magnificent.”

Yara sips her wine with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, “Yeah, apparently you can _bare_ your soul there.” 

Her statement hints at an underlying meaning he’s not privy too as the others laugh behind their own glasses, but he’s not worried about their inside joke at the moment. He just needs to speak to Arya about what happened, or maybe didn’t happen, back at the ship.

Venturing onward, he makes the trek along the designated path laid out before him leading to the caves his sister mentioned Arya was exploring, and upon his arrival, his eyes widen dramatically and he gasps almost inaudibly at the sight, a shudder of a chill running down his spine and straight to his cock.

He finds Arya sitting on a large rock just inside the caves entrance, her back to him. Her very _bare_ , very _naked_ back.

With her dress and top discarded to the side, she sits cross-legged on top of the old boulder, water droplets glistening down her pale skin and his mouth literally begins to water just from looking at her, “I uh… hey.”

He stammers the words out, meaning to announce his presence so she doesn’t think he’s creepily spying on her being half naked.

He can’t help but to keep his eyes on her form, despite the feeling that it may be a tad bit inappropriate and when she turns her head slightly to look at him, the devilish grin she gives him has his eyes turning dark and all feelings of guilt wash off of him completely.

She breathes a soft laugh and then reaches her arms over her head to stretch her petite body to the fullest, giving him a view of the side of her breast, her pink nipple hard and he doesn’t know if it’s from her body temperature or the fact that she now has an attentive audience.

“I uh, needed to talk to you, so I’ll just be over here while you get dressed.”

She doesn’t wait for him to turn away before she’s climbing off the rock and grabbing her dress, taking her precious time to do so and his feet stay planted firmly in place, eyes locked in full concentration to her every movement.

“Nothing you haven’t seen before, don’t see why it’s a big deal.”

With her breasts on full display as she walks toward him, she stops just inches away and smiles, her steel eyes dilating more and more with each passing second.

“You’re right, princess. I have seen it all before, but it is still a big deal for two reasons.”

He knows this is a bad idea and he’ll definitely need privacy later to relieve the aching in his twitching cock, but he doesn’t care.

“One, I want to be respectful to you and any woman for that matter.”

He steps just that much closer to her, smiling when she doesn’t pull away and leans down to whisper in her ear, her nipples brushing his gray shirt lightly, “And two, despite the fact that I know that I should look away, it’s fairly difficult because I am still insanely attracted to you and that beautiful body of yours.”

The more she doesn’t flinch, the more of a struggle it is not to touch her.

He steps back and watches as she closes her eyes and bites on her bottom lip, “Having you one night, Arya, isn’t going to make that fact disappear. So why don’t you get dressed and meet me back on the hill so we can talk.”

Eyes still closed, she nods in agreement and tries to control her unsteady breathing.

He turns away reluctantly, and treads back up the grassy hill, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. Arya made it clear that a repeat of that night would not be happening, and he’s learned to be okay with that, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have a little fun in teasing her about it, no matter how fucking hard it makes him. Watching her squirm is well worth it.

Resting his hands in the pockets of his shorts, he turns abruptly at the sound of labored breathing and heavy footsteps behind him.

“Okay, Casanova, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Her cheeks are still flushed, and he knows it’s not from the short hike uphill, “You’re cute when you get all flustered.”

“Shut the fuck up and tell me what you want to tell me before I push you down this hill.”

She swats his hand away when he makes a motion as if to pinch her cheek like you would a fat chubby baby, “And when you threaten me with violence.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” She ignores him and walks away, and he jumps at the chance to follow her, “You’re impossible, stupid bull.”

“Alright, alright. All joking aside, I think there might have been someone snooping around the ship earlier when Hot Pie and I got back from the market.”

As they walk back to where he last saw the other girls, he notices her eyebrows tense with concentration, but she doesn’t seem to be as concerned about what he just told her as he thought she’d be.

“But you’re not one hundred percent sure someone was there?”

“No, not for certain.”

“Okay, we’ll stay on guard as we are.”

“You’re not worried about someone getting into the safe?”

“No, I know that the safe is fine. I’m not worried about it getting broken into.”

“Why?”

He stops suddenly when she does and she turns to face him, a gentle hand on his forearm calming him slightly, “Do you trust me?”

Gendry stares into her grey eyes, a sense of seriousness and honesty radiating through them and any stress he felt about this ordeal, leaves him in waves as he sighs his response, “Yes.”

“Good. Believe me when I tell you that the safe is fine.”

She lowers her arm and he already misses her lingering touch, “Now, is it too early to start drinking?”

*******

By the time dinner arrives, everyone appears to be properly buzzed and holding their own well, save for the Brotherhood who don’t seem to mind getting ridiculously smashed on Tywin Lannister’s dime, and for that, Gendry cannot blame them at all. In any other circumstances, he’d be doing the exact same thing.

After what Gendry thought was someone lurking about, there hasn’t been any activity on either their ship nor the Brotherhood’s the rest of the afternoon, so the fact that all of the Brotherhood agreed to join them in a bar escapade has him feeling much more relaxed now that he doesn’t need to be on guard since they will be all in the same room together.

They find a spot not even a mile from the restaurant that’s occupied by a few people, not too many but just enough for the thirteen of them to join in on the festivities comfortably without overcrowding the small space.

Gendry watches as both crews seem to mingle within one another as they choose tables adjacent to the other, rather than keeping with their own, but it’s only when Anguy slides up to Mya and Arya, that he begins to rethink this whole making friends with the enemy thing.

He manages to take the last spot at their four person table just as one of the bartenders comes around to take everyone’s drink order while a different employee walks up to the small makeshift stage at the front of the room, his voice rings through the microphone before filtering clearly through the speaker system, “Welcome ladies and gentlemen to our traditional karaoke night at Syl’s, don’t be shy and feel free to come up and sing whatever your heart desires.”

Gendry groans from his chair and drinks his beer with his usual brooding demeanor as the others seem to give in to the karaoke night tradition and make the most of the opportunity laid out before them.

He has to admit that after a few beers, his friends making fools of themselves (they don’t really care) on stage has been rather entertaining and less cringy than he first assumed it would be. But when any member of the Brotherhood gets up there, that’s a whole different story.

After an hour and a half of each of them going up, plus a few other straggling strangers, Arya hounds him for the third time about him participating and ruining the mood if he doesn’t.

“No way, you know me Arya, you really think that’s my idea of fun?” He laughs humorously.

“Fuck no, but it’s a special night. Our first night off the boat so don’t fucking spoil it. I want to see you get up there and get out of your comfort zone and live a little.”

He says nothing, not willing to give into her no matter how much his body wants to give her whatever she wants, she seems to have that affect on him these days.

“If you don’t get up there and sing the next random song that plays, then you’re on kitchen cleaning duty by yourself for the next month.”

He narrows his blue eyes at her as she does the same, a smile threatening to form on her lips, and when he hears chimes of agreement from his friends, he sighs heavily and agrees to do just that.

But for the life of him he can’t figure out if it’s because she wants him to or because he doesn’t want to be stuck on cleaning duty for the next thirty days. As she smiles victoriously, he realizes then it’s the former.

As he steps onto the stage, he realizes that the bar is a lot fuller than when they first arrived and it’s doing nothing to cure his nerves.

He takes a deep breath and waits for the music to begin, keeping an eye on Arya at the table in front of him as the music plays and he smiles internally at the familiar tune.

**“ _I hear the drums echoing tonight, but she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation…_ ” **

The crowd cheers and applauds as he continues to sing while everyone dances along to the beat of the song, his own team included. Not to mention the encouragement he’s getting from the brotherhood who seem to be well into their cups.

**_“He turned to me as if to say, "Hurry boy, it's waiting there for you...”_ **

As she sways back and forth and keeps her eyes locked on his, he is suddenly aware that she’s the only one he wants to sing this song to as his eyes keep finding themselves back on her, and only her.

**_“It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you. There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do…”_ **

Every few seconds he’ll scan the crowd but no matter how hard he tries, he always looks back to Arya.

The song finishes and he steps off stage feeling a little light-headed and he suspects it’s just from his alcohol consumption. He sits back down at the table with his sister, Arya, and Anguy who seems to be sulking to himself.

“That was bloody brilliant.” Arya slaps him lightly with the back of her hand and he can’t help but to share in the bright smile radiating from her.

“I’m going again.” She says before she’s jumping up and gone in an instant.

Mya stares at him with a certain light in her eye, as if she’s sizing him up and her scrutiny is unnerving him, “Yeah, that was definitely interesting.”

He merely shrugs as nonchalantly as he can and relaxes back against the rickety wood as Arya begins her song, another good song that he knows she’ll make a spectacle of.

**_“First when there's nothing, but a slow glowing dream that your fear seems to hide, deep inside your mind…”_ **

She gets into the slow start and when the song begins to pick up in rhythm, she steps off the stage and begins to sing around the crowd as she walks through and gives each table special attention.

**_“Well, I hear the music. Close my eyes, feel the rhythm. Wrap around, take a hold of my heart…”_ **

And before he knows it, he’s the first one on his feet helping Arya get the entire bar up and on their own feet dancing and singing along with her, but since she still carries the mic, her voice speaks louder than the others.

**_“What a feeling, bein's believin'.’ I can have it all, now I'm dancing for my life…”_ **

In matter of half a song, Arya has turned karaoke night into a full out flash mob, complete with the likes of Beric and fucking Thoros dancing like teenage girls on Prom night, and he’ll never figure out how she does it.

Still belting out the lyrics, she attempts to pass him by but instead of letting her, he grabs her by the hand and wraps her into his arms before swaying her back out again, and again, both of them dancing, singing, laughing, and having the time of their lives with their friends _and_ frenemies.

*******

After another two hours of musical entertainment fly by, mostly from the new patrons this time around, the karaoke theme for the night has finally died down and the crowd has mostly dispersed. Gendry finds himself at the bar with Missandei and Yara waiting on more drinks for them and Hot Pie waiting at their table, with Arya, Rickon and Mya scattered about the island for more late night adventures, promising to meet up in the morning for breakfast after a good night’s rest in a warm bed that’s not bouncing atop angry waves on the Summer Sea. 

“I think we’re going to have to limit you and Arya’s bar time.” Yara says as she hands the two their drinks and begins to down hers happily.

“Yeah, between the bar brawls and dancing flash mobs, you two seem to put on quite the show in these establishments.” Missandei adds with amusement.

He’s at a loss for words realizing they are absolutely right. Him and Arya have yet to experience a quiet, no show night in a bar without the theatrics.

But that’s the thing, he doesn’t want normal with her anymore. He wants the theatrics and the craziness; it’s become a part of him now after only a short time of knowing her and the rest of his new friends.

“Did you guys see Beric and Thoros throwing it down out there though? That shit was the funniest thing I’ve seen in a very long time.”

Missandei laughs at the memory Yara mentions and leans back in her chair a little too far as she bounces with hysterics, ultimately bumping lightly into the man that sits just to the right side of her.

Gendry watches as the man turns around and then gives her a sloppy smile when he realizes it’s a pretty girl that disturbed him, “Oi, well aren’t you just a cute little thing.”

He spins around in his barstool to fully face them as his companion, another drunk man, gives him as much attention as he can muster in his drunken haze.

Missandei, obviously not wanting to indulge him stands from her stool and begins to walk back to their table, but the stranger doesn’t seem to want her to leave so easily, “Hey, where you going darlin’, how about another drink?”

She gives him a polite _no thanks_ without fully turning towards him when he grabs her ass, causing her to squeal with both surprise and disgust.

Gendry shoves the man back to let Missandei walk off, “Back off, mate. Keep your grubby hands off the lady.”

The man only smiles in response, swaying a little on his feet as he turns his attention to Yara instead, “Well what about this one, I can have her then, aye?”

The man reaches out in a fable attempt to grab Yara by the arm just as she scrunches her face in distain, her fists clenching at her sides and before he realizes what he’s doing, he’s doing the one thing he knows Yara wants to do and he’s laying him out with a swift punch to the skull.

The man tumbles backwards, knocking over barstools and anything in his path as he it’s the ground with a loud thud, all eyes suddenly on the two of them.

Gendry steps back to stand beside Yara as they watch the man struggle to get back on his feet and shake off the blow Gendry was sure would put him out for a while, no one dare helping him further the commotion.

“You wanted to do that, right?”

“Yeah, what the fuck, Baratheon?!”

The drunk man swings on his feet and slurs out a few mumbles before anything coherent is heard, “Didn’t realize she’s your girl. I don’t want the dumb cunt anyhow.”

Yara’s eyes blaze with fury and Gendry sighs before turning slightly towards her, “Usually I wouldn’t condone such behavior on another man, but this fucker isn’t much of one so why the hell not.”

He nudges his head in the man’s direction and then trails his eyes downward so that Yara will take the hint and when she does, she smiles gladly before kneeing the bastard in the crotch with more explicit words and then high-fiving Gendry with a bark of laughter.

But their victory is soon squandered as the bartender starts yelling at them to get the fuck out of his bar before he calls the local authorities.

The others follow them out without a word of protest or complaint about being forced to leave before they’re ready.

“So, what now?”

“The night is still young, let’s see what other trouble we can get into.” Yara suggests and Missandei and Hot Pie agree happily, save for Gendry who just announces he’s calling it a night and going back to the hotel to ice his now bruised hand.

With everyone out exploring the island, he suspects that he’ll have the floor their rooms are on quiet for quite some time, so what surprises him the most when he steps off the elevator is Arya coming out of the door that holds the staircase.

“What are you doing?”

“Me? What are you doing? I thought you were out with Mya and Rickon?”

She shrugs and begins to walk slowly that way he can keep up with her pace as they talk, “Just tired, it’s been a hell of a day.”

Before he can tell her about what happened at the bar, she notices his hand injury and stops in her tracks. Arya grabs his hand and holds it in hers, studying it carefully, “How’s the other guy look?”

He smiles at the memory of him and Yara fucking that asshole up and rightfully so, “He may or may not be somewhere icing his junk.”

She gasps in surprise at that statement, appalled that he could do such a thing and he takes the hint of her shock and hurries to align the truth, “Not me, I only got his face. Yara.”

“Ah, now it makes sense.” She drops his hand and continues walking, expecting him to follow, “Come on, let’s put some ice on that.”

He follows her silently back to her hotel room, across the hall and adjacent to his own.

He sits down on her bed that’s still precisely made as she grabs some ice from the mini fridge and a wash rag to wrap it in bringing it to him and laying it on his hurt hand.

He stares back up at her with a new sort of awe at her softness and gentle care, “So, what did the fucker do to warrant such scoundrel behavior?”

He breathes a soft laugh, his eyes crinkling in amusement, “Aside from getting too handsy with Missandei, he said a few too many words that would be inappropriate to repeat in front of a _princess_.”

He watches as her mouth flashes a quick smile and then fade just as fast as it came while she works on making sure the ice covers every injured inch, her touch warming the once cold skin, “Huh, and here I thought I was the only special one you wanted to protect.” 

He knows it’s a joke, but he has the urge to clarify the underlying hurt in her tone, “You’ll always be special, Arya. In so many ways.”

Her motions cease as her grey eyes bore into his own, the room suddenly closing in around just the two of them taking all of his oxygen with it.

Thankfully, she gathers her bearings and releases the intense hold she had on him, “Seriously though, thank you for protecting them. Although I knew you wouldn’t get away with stealing a punch from Yara Greyjoy.”

“They’re my friends too, and yeah, she wasn’t happy but I think I made up for it by allowing her to hit him where it really hurts, and it wasn’t as painful to watch as it normally is. Fucking bastard deserved it.”

The ice has fallen to the side and the only comfort healing his injury is the soft circles Arya’s thumb absentmindedly rubs over it as he meets her eyes once again, his breath stilling in his lungs.

“You wanna watch the Bear Island game?”

He tries to subtly release the breath he held with a soft sigh of, “I thought you’d never ask.”

If he’s honest with himself, he’s been wanting to catch the repeat of tonight’s game since karaoke ended at the bar, but he wasn’t about to be rude and leave early on the basis of wanting to watch a hockey game. In any other situation, he would have ditched whoever he was with in a heartbeat without a second thought, but now things are different in a way that is better than he could have ever imagined.

He’s never had a best friend before, but slowly and surely, he thinks that maybe one day that person could be named Arya Stark.

*******

“You call that a shot, get your shit together Mormont!”

“Bloody hell!”

They’re yelling simultaneously at the flat screen in Arya’s hotel room when her cell rings suddenly, Rickon’s name and baby picture flashing on the brightly lit screen.

“Hey, Rick. What’s up?”

“Uh, Arya, can you come down to the ship. I need to show you something.”

Gendry watches Arya’s face flash from content to concern in a matter of seconds and he thinks that whatever it is that her brother is calling about, can’t be a good thing.

They make it back to the boat in record time, Arya yelling out for Rick as soon as they set foot on deck.

Once they locate him standing just outside the treasure room, Arya immediately goes to his side, checking him for any obvious injury.

“What’s happened?”

“Well I came back to the boat to grab a new shirt since mine got wet and we were closer to here than the hotel. I got to the docks and saw someone running the opposite way very fast, but I couldn’t tell who it was. And then I came in here and saw this.”

Gendry and Arya follow him into the room and know instantly what it is that person was after from the huge dent in the safe along with the lock combination scratched all to hell although they can see it hasn’t been opened.

“Someone tried to break into it?”

Arya’s eyes hold a special kind of sadness as her fingers trace over the dented metal, “Legit my ass.”

“Come again?”

Arya sighs so heavily it’s as if a new weight is being lifted from her chest, as she turns to face both men fully, “When I spoke with Harwin this morning he told me that the Brotherhood was going legit. No more stealing, no more sneaking around, they were going to be doing things right from now on.”

They wait for her to finish, her posture telling them she has more to say, “And then he offered me a job with them.”

He’s rightfully pissed now, but not because they tried to steal their treasure, but because of the thought of someone taking Arya away from them. Away from _him_. 

Rickon looks upset but not nearly as much as Gendry, “You told him to fuck off, aye?” 

“I did. Told him Beric and lot of them are full of shit and I still don’t trust them. With good reason too.”

“Obviously, it was one of them here tonight, and probably earlier when Gendry came back with Hot Pie from the market. So, the question is, did they lie and are still up to their old tricks, or do they have one person that’s not accepting the new rules of law?”

“Doesn’t matter, the coin isn’t in there anyway.”

They wait for her to explain fully what she means by that, “Before we dropped anchor in Lys, I moved it to another, smaller safe that’s hidden. Only Hot Pie and I know about it.”

“Hot Pie? Why him?”

“You’ve clearly never seen Hot Pie get nervous during a serious moment, and if he were questioned about it, he would just start rambling on and on about bread and shit until whoever he was talking to just gave up. He was the best person to tell.”

Rickon and Gendry remain quiet and pensive, each lost in their own wandering thoughts concerning this new revelation.

Arya was smart in moving the coin, but he’s still pissed about the job offer and someone trying to steal it.

“I don’t know who tried to break into the safe tonight, but I can tell you that I won’t rest until I find out who it was.”

Gendry leans back against the wall and realizes something important that has yet to be mentioned, “But the real question is, how the fuck did they know about it in the first place?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part Three coming soon.


	8. third things third, send a prayer to the ones up above

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another offer, a much needed family meeting, and one last hoorah. 
> 
> Part Three of Three 
> 
> “Believer” By Imagine Dragons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue heavy. 
> 
> The final piece to the Brotherhood storyline. We may see them again, but who knows cause I sure as hell don’t. Lol

**_Third things third_ **

**_Send a prayer to the ones up above_ **

**_All the hate that you've heard_ **

**_Has turned your spirit to a dove,_ **

**_Your spirit up above._ **

****

**June 14, 2020 – 10:31**

“Are you seriously asking me that right now?”

He honestly cannot believe that any of them would have the audacity to approach him out of the blue and ask him such a thing. Ask him to leave behind his sister and his friends to join them out on the sea, be a member of the Brotherhood. And here he thought he would have a relaxing cup of tea before his friends joined him. He would hardly call the acquaintance at his table a friend, and even the word _acquaintance_ is pushing it.

Gendry stares Thoros down, expecting him to take back what he said, to say it was all just a big joke and go about his way. But he doesn’t and the longer they sit here in awkward silence the more Gendry wants to punch him in his throat for so many reasons.

“What? Arya rejected your offer so you’d thought that you could play up the new guy, get him to switch sides so easily?”

Thoros gives him a humorless smile, all teeth but no bite, “I know more about you than you think, Mr. Baratheon. Bastard born without a father, mum died when you were nine so the drunk and his bitch of a wife takes you in, changes your name, tries to give you a real family, but that didn’t exactly turn out the way you thought it would now did it?”

His jaw clenches and the thought of punching him is looking more and more like a fantastic fucking idea, despite them being out in public. 

“With us, you could have real brothers, the family you never had. We look out for each other; we always have each other’s backs.”

Gendry isn’t sure where he’s going with this and why all of a sudden, they need to expand their band of pirates, but he’s eager to find out because it likely has to do with what they’re up to. So, he says something that will probably get him into trouble later if any of his own crew heard what he’s about to say out of context. But at the same time, if it gets him closer to the answers they seek, than it’s worth the risk and he’s sure that any of them would play it the same way given the chance.

“I already have a family, not really open to having more than these guys, but I’ll tell you what…”

He pauses a beat and looks sternly at Thoros, wanting him to get his point across and make sure that’s he understands clearly, “I’ll consider your offer and get back to you before this little pit stop is over, fair enough?”

He’s hoping by the time they get back on the water, all of this Brotherhood, breaking in, job offers thrown about nonsense will be over and done with.

Thoros rises from his chair at the café they’re at and holds out a steady hand for Gendry to shake, which he does just as strongly, “Sounds good to me, mate. See you lot around.”

He walks out just as Mya and Hot Pie walk in to meet him for a late breakfast, curious looks and frowns adorning both their soft faces, “What the bloody hell did he want?”

Getting here before the others, he was hoping for a little alone time, but when he saw Thoros walk in and immediately cast his gaze on him, he knew that the effort for some down time was redundant.

After ordering, he decides to give them nothing but the absolute truth knowing they deserve it, “To offer me the same thing they offered Arya yesterday. A spot on their crew.”

Hot Pie’s soft brown eyes widen and for a moment he pales dramatically, and Gendry finds that he’s very endearing that his roommate cares that much whether him or Arya leave his side, “What? They can’t do that. Can they do that?”

Mya flips a part of her long hair back behind her shoulder and then sips on her mug of coffee before responding with that signature Baratheon sass he’s grown to love on her, “They can try but they sure as hells aren’t getting either of you. Fucking sneaky bastards.”

Gendry watches as Hot Pie relaxes slightly, but he can tell the underlying fear and concern is still lingering in the back of his mind, “Well what did you say to him? What did Arry say to him?”

Arry. Now that name sure throws him back in time.

He shakes off those sweet, lustfully memories and focuses on the questions he was just asked, “Arya told Harwin he was full of shit when he asked.”

He laughs but then it sobers quickly when he realizes he has to tell them the truth just in case they find out from another source, “I told Thoros that I’d think about it.”

Before he can blink and wait for their reaction, Mya is incessantly smacking him on the arm in an angry fit of rage, “Ow, what the fuck is with you and Stark hitting me all the god damn time?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you, why would you tell him that?”

“Stopping hitting me and I’ll tell you!”

She huffs and then lays her hands on the table, “Because if he thinks I’m considering switching sides, he might give up their endgame and what they’re really after with us.”

In all the commotion of Gendry’s confession and Mya’s violence, they didn’t hear nor see Missandei and Rickon walk right up to their table and grab some extra chairs to join them, “I might have a theory on part of that.”

Rickon exclaims, albeit a little shyly like he doesn’t like the words that are about to spill from his mouth. Missandei, on the other hand, simply looks sympathetic at the young Stark boy, “So it turns out that one of my sources I chatted with the other day about the coin, might not be as trustworthy as I first thought. Apparently, word of the coin has gotten around in the salvaging community including to those dumb pirates.”

Mya leans back in her chair and folds her arms across her chest, “Loose lips sink ships.”

“And break into ‘em too.” Hot Pie adds for good measure, stunned at the new revelation but not at all resentful towards Rickon who they all know meant no harm. It is what it is.

“Okay, so they know about the coin and they obviously want it since one of them tried to break into the safe last night.”

Gendry thinks about everything that’s going on for a moment, understanding that they as a team need to figure out how to go about things next, “Where are Arya and Yara?”

Missandei and Rickon share a sheepish look with the other before she turns to address Gendry, “Arya is confronting Harwin about the break-in back at the hotel. Not sure where Yara ran off too.”

“You sure that’s a good idea? She didn’t exactly hold her composure with them the last time.”

One by one they all look to each other for a silent answer, collectively agreeing that they might need some back up so after settling the tab, they all head back to the hotel together.

********

Settling back on the small sofa in the open suite, the soft glow of the morning light attempting to shine through the sheer white curtains, Arya thinks back to the previous day on the island and how carefree and enjoyable it was.

She had heard about the wonderous caves from a few of the locals and wanted to see what the fuss was all about, not minding for a bit how much exposure one could bring to themselves down there, that is until Gendry just so happened to come upon her in her time of bare relaxation.

And even though in perhaps other circumstances with other people, she would have been more respectable about the whole thing, but with Gendry it’s been different from the very start.

That shyness, that sense to cover herself around him never bubbles to the surface and if anything, she thinks that around him, she’s never felt more like herself.

Even though she didn’t come right out and say it back to him, she’s still undeniably attracted to him and that’s something that will never change. She may have not felt that she wanted to be friends with him at the beginning of this journey, but in such a short amount of time, they’ve come so far and Arya wouldn’t hesitate in calling him one of her best friends if asked about how close they are to each other.

He’s become such an important part of her life that if anything were to jeopardize that, she wouldn’t know how to handle it. She’s more cautious of the people and things happening around them. Maybe that’s why the Brotherhood showing up has her even more on the defensive side than she normally would be.

Lost in her thoughts of her blossoming friendship with Gendry Baratheon, she misses when Harwin comes to stand right beside her with an offering of a hot cup of coffee.

“Arya? Where’s that head at of yours?”

Snapping back to the present she looks at him with a blank expression and then down at the mug in his hand, “Sorry. Just thinking about my friends.”

After taking the steaming liquid from him, he sits down on the opposite side of the couch, facing her with a warm smile, “So what do I owe the pleasure for this unexpected visit this morning?”

With a fear of losing her shit again, she doesn’t waste either of their time and gets right to the point of why she’s in his hotel room.

She holds the mug close to her lips, ready to take a long sip after she gets the words out, “Are you going to tell me which of your so called brothers tried to break into my safe last night?”

She basks in the warm cocoon that the caffeine creates as it spreads throughout her body, the liquid coating her throat and she has to hide the surprise on her face when Harwin’s eyebrows raise in sheer shock at what she just asked him. He really had no clue about the attempted robbery.

“You didn’t know?”

“No, I did not. You said this happened last night?”

“Yes, after we all left the bar. My brother said he saw someone running away from the ship and came back to find the safe was tampered with.”

She sighs and decides to dig further down into the truth that’s swimming inside her, “Look, a small part of me really did want to give you guys the benefit of the doubt, but when shit like this happens, it’s really fucking hard to believe that you’ve changed.”

He stares at her with a sad expression for a moment before asking, “Have you went to anyone else about this?”

“No, you were my first stop. I wanted to ring Beric a new one but came to you first.”

He breathes a heavy sigh and then abruptly stands from the couch and walks straight to the door without another word. She whips her head around but he’s too quick and soon she’s on her own feet following him out into the hallway.

Noticing he’s stopped just a few doors down, she waits by the wall and watches as he knocks harshly before Beric, all sleepy-eyed and clearly hungover cracks the door open just enough to notice not only Harwin’s sour face but also Arya’s preying eyes.

The two men whisper a few mumbled words back and forth before Beric nods his head and returns to his room, closing the door firmly behind Harwin who heads back to his own where Arya awaits.

“Can you get your guys here and meet us all downstairs in about twenty minutes?”

“If you tell me why.”

“Just meet us down on the first floor, there is a banquet hall that should be empty. We’re going to get some things straight and figure out what the fuck is going on around here.”

He looks pissed, and if meeting the Brotherhood in a fancy hotel dining room is what it takes for her to finally get some answers, well that almost seems too easy but she agrees politely, nonetheless.

********

Just as she steps foot off the elevator, she eyes Yara walking out of the gym covered in sweat, but what catches her eye instantaneously and surprises her the most is watching as Gendry, Hot Pie, Rickon, Mya and Missandei all walk through the automated front doors of the hotel together, and with clear determination on all their faces.

Yara walks up to Arya’s side as the others meet them in the middle of the lobby, “What’s going on?”

“Not sure, was just about to ask them.”

Rickon smiles before throwing a lazy arm over Hot Pie’s shoulder, “We’ve come to watch your back big sis. We thought you could use some assistance in confronting the pirates.”

She smiles fondly and is happy that she has each and every one of them in her crazy life, “That’s actually to be continued here in about fifteen minutes. Harwin and Beric are calling a collective group meeting to clear the air.”

After Arya tells them the time and the place to meet, they disperse temporarily throughout the ground floor of the hotel, Gendry lingering back to get her attention away from the others.

“Ran into Thoros this morning, or rather he interrupted me, but it doesn’t matter...” he stammers the words out clearly nervous about what he’s saying, “He offered me the same position with them that you turned down. Tried to convince me I could have a real family with them.”

Her heart thumps erratically in her chest and she feels herself growing weary, “And what did you say in response?”

“I told him that I already had a family.” She doesn’t have time to think about that and the grin he gives her because right after that he says, “But I also told him that I would consider it, just because I knew that if he thought I was thinking about switching sides, maybe he’d give up some of their dirty little secrets, but it looks like you beat me to it.”

Arya gives him a smug smirk in return and soon they’re all walking into the empty banquet hall, just as Harwin predicted.

Divided between the two tables nearest to the entrance, Arya, Rickon and Gendry sit with Yara while Hot Pie, Missandei and Mya sit at the red covered table next to them, waiting for their counterparts to join them.

One by one each member of the Brotherhood enters the room but instead of joining them at the tables, they spread themselves out on the stage just on the other side of the furniture, Thoros, Anguy, and Lem on sitting while the others prefer to either stand or lean against the wall.

Before Arya can address the obvious elephant in the room, Beric begins speaking and quite willingly heads straight past awkward and directly to confessional, “When I invited you all over to our boat for dinner the other night, it wasn’t to just catch up or even tell you about how we’ve decided to put our pirating behind us and do things right from now on.”

She waits with bated breath and a heavy heart, “It was to tell you that the reason behind this new reckoning of ours is because I’ve recently been told that I don’t have long left to live.”

The room stays eerily silent and by the looks on his brother’s faces, she knows he’s telling the absolute truth, “I’m sick. And the doctors can’t treat it. I got maybe six months left.”

Even though he’s addressing all of them, he looks to Arya in particular, “I’m sorry for my past. I can’t change, _we_ can’t change what we’ve done but I hope that going forward we can at least try to right a few wrongs.”

“At least that’s what I’m hoping to do.”

She thinks that maybe Beric is looking for a response from her but instead she turns her eyes to land on Harwin, “Is that why you asked me to join your crew? Because he won’t be around anymore?”

Beric’s content, yet sad expression turns quickly into a full-blown wrath, “You did what?!”

Gendry’s voices chimes in over the others, “Thoros asked me the same thing just this morning.”

Thoros and Harwin share surprise glances before Harwin speaks for them both, “Not sure what his motives were for that, but I wanted Arya to join us because she’s good at this life and if we’re going to be doing things right we’re going to need someone who actually knows what they’re doing because these fuckers sure as hell don’t.”

He tosses a thumb back at Tom, Lem and Anguy who simply look on with knowing smiles, not being able to argue his point at all.

“No, no one is switching sides. I wouldn’t expect this one to give up this lot anytime soon.” He smiles at Arya and she gives him the most genuine smile she can in return, but it doesn’t reach her eyes fully.

“I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you over the years, Stark. And I’m sorry that I’ve wasted such precious moments out on the sea. I spent so much time wasting away instead of having a real adventure and experiencing the true feeling of finding the ultimate treasure like you have.”

All of the ill feelings she’s had for him in the past now mean nothing to her, all that matters is finding it in her heart to forgive him and to move on. He’s dying and she knows he has regrets and things to make up for and if she can, she wants to help him accomplish that before his life is over.

Before she 1can tell him that he’s forgiven, Rickon’s strong voice fills her ears, “Then why did one of you guys try to break into our safe last night?”

The safe. Right. That part still makes zero sense to her.

Beric looks to his own team with a fury in his eyes, “I’d like to know the same damn thing. I thought we agreed that we wouldn’t steal anymore.”

Lem stands on his feet and clears his throat before speaking to only Beric, “Do you know what they have Dondarrion? That coin could get you the help you need, it could save your life!”

“I don’t bloody care!”

“Well I do! I’m not going to apologize for being desperate to save my friend!”

Emotions on the rise, Arya steps up to stop the shouting match, “Arguing isn’t going to solve anything!”

She turns to Lem first, “I get what you were trying to do, okay? Honestly.”

And it’s the truth because if the situations were reversed and it was someone on her team that needed the save, she’d be just as desperate.

Looking to each one of them sitting quietly at the tables, a question clear in her grey eyes, she waits for protest but doesn’t get one, so with a deep exhale, she turns back to face Beric.

“If it would help save your life, you can have the coin Beric. Take it to Braavos. Let it help you.”

“That’s very kind of you, girl even though I am undeserving, but I’ve accepted my fate long ago. I’m not taking your treasure.”

He takes a few steps to close the distance, all eyes on the two of them, “Do something for me? Live every moment. Don’t waste a minute of this life because you only get one. I’d wish I’d done more with mine, but it is what it is I suppose. Time is precious so don’t regret what you do with yours.”

His brothers remain quiet, and she knows this isn’t the first time they’ve heard these words.

She nods and then looks down at the hand he’s holding out for her to take, “Truce?”

She shakes it with a sad smile, “Truce.”

Sitting back down with the others, she looks at each of the Brotherhood before focusing her attention on Beric once again, “So what now?”

He shifts his weight between his two feet and then crosses his arms over his chest, “Honestly, I’d like to be able to go back to Blackhaven, tell my son goodbye and hug him one last time, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. Too far from Westeros, not enough money to get there. Apparently stealing your whole life doesn’t make you very popular among the people.”

She thinks about that for a moment, the sentiment making her sadder for him than she thought possible as Gendry leans over to whisper only to her, “How close are you really with my ex-step grandfather, hmm?”

She realizes where he’s going with this and then smiles before winking at him, a gesture that causes him to give her a smug smile in return. She loves it when he does that. Damn his pretty face.

“I think maybe I can help with that. And no, it doesn’t involve that damn coin, just maybe taking a ride from a Lannister.”

Beric smiles, truly smiles at her and it warms her heart, “If it means seeing my boy again, I think I can accept that.”

“Do me one favor though?”

Arya rolls her eyes playfully before agreeing, “When the time comes, I want a true pirate funeral, fire and all.”

“Likes those Vikings used to do back in the day with the flaming arrows? You’re serious?”

“Aye. And I want you to do the honors.”

“Me? Why me?”

“Because I’ve seen you shoot an arrow and you’re brilliant at it. Even better than Anguy over here.”

Anguy gives him the bird with a laugh, followed by laughs from everyone in the room, “Besides, these fuckers will be piss poor drunk and will probably catch everything around them on fire. At least I know you’ll have your head on straight.”

“I’d be honored.”

And she truly, truly will.

********

They all watch as Tywin’s plane lifts off the tarmac with Beric in tow, ready to take him home to his long lost family.

Harwin catches Arya’s eye and then smiles gently, “Now how about that dinner we promised ya back on our ship, aye?”

Arya agrees and they head back to the water and just as expected and right on time, Gendry asks, “Since we’re technically still docked, we can drink right?”

“As long as you don’t get drunk and try to fist fight Anguy.”

“Now, why would I ever go and try to do something like that?”

She smiles and then he laughs and they both know the exact reason why he would end up doing something dumb like that.

They step onto the ship and immediately hand out fresh cold beers to toast a soon to be fallen member of the Brotherhood. Raising their bottles, Tom hollers out above the crowd, “To Beric!”

Cheers, clanks, laughter, and a hint of sadness fill the open air around them and Arya hopes that this experience will be a lesson for the future just as Beric wanted.

They’ve yet to experience the real tragedy for the melancholy of what’s to come lingers on everyone’s mind, but for now they’re going to look forward to a new future filled with better choices and more happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was not how this story was originally supposed to end but what I had imagined first for it was darker and just didn’t fit right.


	9. I've been standing here my whole life, my heart's beating faster, I know what I'm after

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We came out here to find this ship, so that’s what we’re going to do. Considering Beric’s last words of wisdom, I don’t think he’d want you to be wasting your time out here regretting that you couldn’t help save his life. He’d want you to be taking his words seriously, to not let the moments slip away. So, stop being sad saps and let’s get back down there before I think that swimming with the sharks would be fun.”
> 
> "Runnin'" by Adam Lambert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter turned out to be longer than I expected, but when is that ever a bad thing?

**_I've been standing here my whole life_ **

**_Everything I've seen twice_ **

**_Now it's time I realized_ **

**_It's spinning back around now_ **

**_On this road I'm crawlin'_ **

**_Save me 'cause I'm fallin'_ **

****

****

**June 18th, 2020 09:23**

“Are we just giving up?”

She looks just as defeated as he feels, as they all feel after the unexpected events with what the Brotherhood had sought them out for and then their ultimate departure accepting Beric Dondarrion’ s tragic fate.

“No, I don’t think so. I think it’s just…”

Missandei looks past where Gendry rests in the sun chair on the deck directly in front of her and out towards where the bright sunny sky meets the ever-flowing ocean blue, a softness in her gentle eyes, “I think it’s a little bit of empathy and regret. With everything Beric told us, it’s just hard to move past something like that. We spent so long believing the worst of him and when it finally came down to having the chance to do better, it’s too late.”

He knows all too well about believing and knowing the worst of someone, although not particularly related to the Brotherhood, as he didn’t know them for very long, but the overwhelming flood of emotions that comes with wanting to believe in redemption but people never presenting themselves to him to experience it? Yeah, he’s been there. He waited years for Robert Baratheon to be a decent father and it never happened.

“We’ll get back out there soon, I think we’re all just reflecting on life in general, ya know?”

Lately, he’s been reflecting back on his life in ways he thought he never would. He’s spent most of his time being pissed off and mad at the world for all its handed to him, he never thought that if he just stopped holding grudges and all that pain inside, that maybe he could change his own fate.

Most people throughout his life have always left him sooner or later, save for a few special ones, the present company included, therefore he keeps everyone at arm’s length as there’s no point in getting to know them or even thinking they could have a permanent spot in his life because eventually, they’ll leave too. And it’s always his fault in so many ways.

He catches her eye again when he speaks and the small content smile that she gives him has him feeling more relaxed than he thought he would while talking about these kinds of things, “You think that Beric had a point? That life should be spent living…” he pauses for a moment and hopes that his next words aren’t too blunt, “well, uh, like we’re _dying_ , and all that.”

“Sure. I mean life is short, that’s as clear now as it ever was. None of us ever expected a hard ass like Beric Dondarrion to go out so soon, so yes, I think that we shouldn’t waste a single minute.”

Apart from not having been out on the water but maybe a couple of times in the last week since the Brotherhood went their separate ways, they also haven’t interacted as much with each other either. Everyone has mainly kept to themselves except for Hot Pie who has been trying his best to get everyone’s spirits up.

He supposes that each of them will come around soon enough, and he thinks that maybe Missandei will be the first since this is the most, he’s talk to her in… well, ever.

She has a way of calming people, the softness in her eyes and in her voice when she speaks with you. 

The same calmness that was in his mother.

“So, if you’re so hellbent on avoiding having new people in your life like I’ve heard about from Mya _and_ Arya, why did you agree to come on this trip?”

**April 10, 2020 — 22:57**

He’s working on his fourth beer and only half paying attention to the game that’s playing when he just so happens to look towards the door and see her walk in, unbeknownst to him as he had expected her to leave the following week without visiting and only get the usual phone call before she’s unavailable for simple communication out on the vast sea. But she keeps surprising him with the in person impromptu visits and considering she’s one of the few family members he has that he actually gets along with, he’s not complaining about it. It could always be worse, he’s found.

Mya sits on the empty stool beside him without saying a word and when the bartender sets a fresh cold beer down on the bar top in front of them, she grabs it before he can and downs half of it in a single breath.

“Why, yes, Mya, by all means, please just help yourself to my beer.” He rolls his eyes half annoyed but not enough to actually come off as annoyed as his sarcasm gives away.

She smiles and he has to bite back a smirk, “Thanks, bro. That’s so nice of you.”

A certain fondness washes over him ever since his sister dyed her naturally dark hair a light shade of blonde, a reminder of his mother when he looks at her. His new protector in so many ways.

He orders another one for himself and for her while he’s at it and positions himself more turned towards her so that she knows she has his attention now, “Not that it’s not good to see you or anything, but shouldn’t you be getting ready to desert this gods forsaken piece of land?”

She takes another drink and yells at the game for a few solid seconds before turning back to him, “I am ready, well _almost_. That’s kind of why I’m here. I wanted to ask you something.”

Her words have his eyebrows raising involuntarily as she’s never really asked him for a favor before, not that he’s unworthy of such a thing, but just because she’s always held her own extremely well for as long as he’s known her.

“Uh, okay?” He phrases it as a question, insisting that she go on in getting it over with. He’s never liked being put on the spot for anything and just because she’s family, that’s not going to stop that feeling now.

“So, you know we’re leaving soon, and it turns out that one of our guys, Pyp, just found out that his girlfriend is pregnant…” She trails off with a small smile.

“And how is that my problem?”

She smacks him on the arm, and he feigns pain as she berates him for the remark, “Oi, would you stop being an asshole for five minutes please. He’s going to be a father so obviously he can’t come with us. Which in turn is MY problem, jerk. I need a good mechanic that knows what he’s doing.”

He thought that might have been where she was going with her proposed favor, but he needed her to lay out the logistics just to be sure, “So you want me to come with you lot?”

“Yeah, I think it’ll be fun.” Her smile does nothing to hide the fact that she’s worried he’ll turn her down which he most certainly wants to do.

“Why me though? You know that’s not my kind of thing, the idea of being stuck on a boat with a bunch of random wankers for months on end is not my idea of fun.”

He’s hoping he won’t have to say much else to convince her that he doesn’t want to go on this trip, but he’s not surprised at all when she pushes the matter further. She is a stubborn bull-headed Baratheon after all.

“So, you’d rather just spend all your time here getting drunk and watching the game by yourself in between jobs? Never having experienced more than that or what its like to have real companions other than the bloke that serves you beer after beer?”

The bartender looks up then from behind the bar slightly amused and a little offended to which Mya apologizes sweetly before he’s stalking off and leaving them alone again.

“Sounds like a pretty good time to me.” He gives her a cheeky grin with mixed emotions as she sighs heavily and then stands up ready to leave him be but not without a few more harsh words of truth.

“Fine, stay here and be miserably alone...” he opens he mouth to protest but she firmly shuts him up by continuing her rampage of candor, “And don’t fucking tell me that you aren’t miserable because I can see right through the bullshit Gendry. I know that you can have a good life filled with people who actually care about you if you just give them the chance. Not everyone is going to leave you Gendry, despite the shitty people that have led you to believe that assumption in the past. Our own father included.”

She begins to walk away but only gets two steps in before she turns back to him, “You know when I first found out that we shared a father, I thought maybe I’d have a sibling who would want a relationship with me and I know it’s hard with me out there all the time, but I’m trying, I really am and I thought this would be a good way to make up some of that lost time. I’m sorry that I’m the only one of us that cares about that. I’ll see you around.”

As he watches her walk away, he thinks about how she is right and that he can’t keep living like this, pushing people away that are making a clear effort to be in his life. Just because his mom unwilling left him, his step-family wanted nothing to do with him despite having years to be truly kind, and every relationship whether platonic or romantic has been an utter disaster, it doesn’t mean that his relationship with his sister has to end in flames as well.

She’s almost to the door when he yells across the small pub, “Wait!”

She turns back, unamused as he stands up from his stool and makes his way towards her, “You’re right and I’m sorry for being an ass. If you want me to go, then I’m in.”

She laughs softly and then hugs him tightly before pulling out a small piece of paper from the pocket of her blue jeans and hands it over to him, “Don’t forget sunscreen.”

He looks at the paper that’s got the location, date and time already written in Mya’s scrawny handwriting and then looks back at her questioningly to which she simply says, “Wanted to be prepared, just in case. Later, bro.”

And with that she’s gone, and he’s left a little speechless in the wake of a life changing decision he doesn’t realize he’s just made.

**Present Day**

Bringing his mind back from that night, he looks at his friend with a warm smile, bathing in the warm sunshine as they relax on the deck, “Aside from her making me feel guilty about not wanting to put effort into our sibling bond, a lot of things really. The biggest being that I realized I needed to stop shutting people out that were trying. They were being nice, and I was always an asshole out of spite and fear of being treated the same way I treated them. I needed to open myself up to the possibility of new adventures, with new _people_.”

Missandei smiles brightly, her dark hair blowing lightly in the breeze, “Come on, we’re not that bad right? Can you say now that you’ve made some new friends?”

He sighs, going over the answer in his head, “No.”

She looks shocked; therefore, he doesn’t miss a beat, “I’d say that I have a new _family_.”

Her smile warms his heart exponentially.

“Good answer. Thought for a second I’d have to tell Yara that you we’re being an ass again.”

He laughs genuinely, “There’s not a lot of women in this life that scare me, but Yara Greyjoy? She’s pretty damn intimidating.”

“That she is.”

He shifts his weight in the deck chair, “What about you? Any siblings?”

His old self would tear him a new one for asking such a thing, getting to know people has never been his forte but like he said, this is his family and he’d like to get to know them better. They’re the exception. He hasn’t had one since he met Davos and Marya all those years ago.

She sighs heavily, but doesn’t necessarily look sad, more like she’s content with her past _and_ her present, “No siblings, that I am aware of at least. My biological parents weren’t exactly ideal people for having children, so they dropped me off at the local church on the island of Naath where I was born. I was adopted a few weeks later.”

“Did you ever try to track down your birth parents?”

“No. They’re not my family, the people that raised me are. _These_ people are. It’s all I need.”

She gestures to the ship, knowing that he’ll understand that she’s referring to their present company that’s lingering around somewhere on the boat.

He remains quiet letting her take the reigns on anything she’d like to know about him and his past or anything else she would feel comfortable disclosing about her own life without him intruding on what might be sensitive topics.

“So, Robert Baratheon was your father, and Mya’s as well?”

Anyone who’s lived in Westeros most of their life knows who Robert Baratheon was as well as all the Lannisters, so he thinks that perhaps she’s inquiring about his real family in the gentlest way possible.

“Aye.”

“And your mom? Mya mentioned that she passed away when you were young. I’m sorry.”

She’s not pitying him like people normally do when he mentions having lost a loved one, so therefore he honestly doesn’t mind indulging her with a few stories.

“Thanks.”

“What was she like?”

His mind falls into a relaxed trance and goes back to a simpler time when he thinks about his past.

Despite having a rocky upbringing, Gendry still holds onto the early memories of his childhood dearly, especially those of his late mother.

He remembers how blonde her long hair was and how it was always just the two of them, both preferring it that way.

He remembers the stories she’d tell him at bedtime and how she always put him first, no matter how difficult things got in life. She was his everything.

When he wasn’t in school or her working, they’d frequent the rocky beaches of Storm’s End where he grew up and they’d spend hours on end playing in the water, building sandcastles, and creating new memories together.

She was his best friend and when he lost her at only nine years old, he lost a part of himself. No one expected her to get as sick as she did and just as fast too. Losing her was the beginning of his own self-destruction. Mad and angry at the world for having taken away the only person he ever needed, he went to live with his father and stepmother in King’s Landing against his own youthful wishes. But even so young, he was very aware that he really had no one else.

He never cared for his father and vice versa. And as far as he knew before she died, his mother didn’t either. Her getting pregnant obviously wasn’t planned, but she always told Gendry that he was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

Aside from the monthly check he would send, Robert Baratheon only cared for his wife, Cersei Lannister and the children they shared together and had no real interest in ever getting to know Gendry, his first born son as a person, and up until he had no other choice but to live with them, he was perfectly fine with that concept.

But with a new family, came a new name. A no-known Waters became a Baratheon.

Gendry never really understood where Cersei’s distaste for him originated from because Robert had met his mother just shortly before he met Cersei, but nonetheless he never sought out for her approval. Perhaps its because he could never learn to stay out of trouble, but again, he never cared to be the good, quiet little boy she wanted him to be.

In the Lannister household, it was a proven fact that if Cersei didn’t like you, then neither would her own three children.

Life wasn’t easy living with his father and the family that never wanted him, he hated it there and he didn’t care who knew it. 

Knowing they didn’t care if he was around or not or even bothered to check most of the time, he made certain he never was. He’d find his way through town only to end up hanging with the wrong crowd and into some nonsense that eventually led to a fight, he quickly learned that life was shit without his mom and he stopped trying to earn the likeness of people that didn’t care for him at all.

Years of adolescent hostility, Cersei had finally had enough of all the fighting and the trips to the juvenile center and decided that Gendry could no longer live with them and be considered a member of the family.

So, at fifteen with no family except for the check that Robert still felt he was obligated to send him, and no real friends, he found himself truly on his own for the first time in his life. After a few phone calls, Robert found him a family to live with that was in close relations to his older brother Stannis, the Seaworth’s, who had just sent their youngest son off to college. With an empty nest, Davos and Marya were thrilled to have another teenager in the house to look after as a house filled with kids was always the way they wanted to live.

He didn’t complain once, he was simply happy to not be living with Robert and Cersei anymore and still had a warm bed to sleep in at night.

He took to Marya quickly, although the anger issues and fighting only seemed to cease in a small amount instead of all together now that he had a positive female role model in his life again. 

They never held it against him though, knowing how hard it would have been for him to lose his mother and be raised with people who didn’t truly love him. Davos never gave up and to this day he is always considered the father he never had.

Eventually, he stopped getting into fights and let his smart mouth create all the trouble for him. He didn’t care though; he’d rather be called an asshole and have someone leave him before he made the effort into letting them in only to have them leave or kick him out of their life like all the others.

Well, except for Davos and Marya. They’d made it clear from the beginning that no matter how hard Gendry attempted to shut them out, they’d always be there for him no matter what.

So up until about three months after his eighteenth birthday, they’re the only family he had.

Focusing back on the present, he tells Missandei about his mother with a heavy heart and a smile on his lips. He’d always like reminiscing about her, no matter how sad he gets or how long he’s had to live without her.

“She sounds absolutely lovely. I wish I could have met her.”

He smiles slightly as he looks at the ground, “Aye. She’d love all of this. And all of you. No doubt.”

“She didn’t know about Mya, did she? That Robert had other children?”

Missandei stills holds that softness in her face, always sweet and never judgmental.

“No, she only knew about Cersei’s kids. It would have been nice to have both her and Mya at the same time.”

He thinks back on those days. The old days as a young adult learning how to make it in this world at just eighteen years old with the help of his unofficial foster parents.

Gendry had come to be used it just being the three of them most of the time, save for the occasional visit from the other Seaworth children whom he’d also managed to get along with just fine.

Still resenting the family that didn’t want him and anything that had to do with Robert or the Lannisters, he’d still shut out all association, so when a scrawny twenty year old shows up at their door one day on Cape Wrath claiming to be his long lost sister, he was reluctant to let her in, less so to actually believe a word she said. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had attempted to con their way into the bank account of the Baratheon or the Lannisters.

But when he heard her story, how she also grew up without a father and didn’t find out her own was Robert Baratheon until a few months before, he knew that she was telling the truth. Of course, that bastard would have more children out there he didn’t care about.

Mya’s mother had died when she was seventeen and ever since then she had been trying to find out who her father was, both for closure and for a little bit of help financially, having nothing of her own since she lost her mom.

After years of searching she finally came upon the truth of Robert’s affair with her mom and that he had a wife and three kids that were half Lannister. Now that part she didn’t care about, but what she was interested in was the fact that he had a son only two years younger than her that also had a similar upbringing.

So, she tracked down Gendry and the Seaworth’s and introduced herself as the sister he never knew he had but always secretly wanted. He admired her tenacity and charm since the very beginning.

He didn’t realize it at the time, but that joke struck true to his core. You can’t want and need something you never really had, and when you do have it, you can’t imagine your life without it.

Upon realizing that Mya, even at twenty, didn’t have much and was always bouncing around, Davos and Marya decided to take her in as well, give her a stable home that she could come back to whenever she felt like it and it gave Gendry the chance to have a real relationship with his older sister.

More years of people coming and going in and out of his life, he concluded that his foster parents and Mya was all he really needed.

But as he got older, it was harder to maintain that sibling relationship with Mya since she had discovered life on the sea and was always gone, through not fault of her own. He found early on that Mya was a free spirit and could never be tied down for very long. She was born to run.

He even opened himself up to romantic partners and at one point had a real serious one, but like always whether his fault or not, they’d leave him too. Eventually he stopped trying. Stopped trying to have friends or a significant other for he found that life on his own was better than the misery that came with abandonment.

He doesn’t realize how far off his mind had wandered until Missandei is snapping her fingers right before his eyes to bring his attention back to the present.

“Where’d you go, mate?”

“The past.” He says with a smile, hers returning with his words as she sits back down with a chuckle.

Gendry runs a hand through his hair, sighing deeply within the confides of his chest, “Losing my mom so early in life and all the shit with Robert and his family, I always thought it would be easier to just not care about getting close to anyone. Never made a difference before.”

She tilts her head to the side, eyes focused solely on him, “And now?”

“Now I think it’s time to lose the façade. Unlike before, I want you guys to stay in my life. I’m not looking to find a reason to push you out and I believe that you lot won’t leave me like everyone else has.”

He begins to laugh manically, shocking himself at his own confession and Missandei grins as she says, “Why do I get the feeling it took everything you had to admit that out loud?”

He’s never been one to open up or even talk about how he feels deep down so the fact that he just told her that has him both relieved and elated at how good it felt to get that off his chest. He’s buried it down for so long that he never thought he’d be able to bring it back to the surface.

“Because it did. It _really_ did, so before I just spill the rest of my guts out to you, how about we get the others and do something completely fucking epic, ay?”

He gives her a quick wink before he saunters off towards the closest radio to the PA system.

Clearing his throat, he mimics his signature voice he’s reserved especially for his animated announcements, “Attention, attention you filthy animals, if you could all join me on the top deck for a special session of ‘ _what the fuck, is he doing now?_ ’ Thank you very much.”

He hears a few groans of annoyance but at least no one is trying to sleep right now.

*********

“Look, I know what happened with Beric sucks, okay? I didn’t know him like you all did, but I can tell that everyone has regrets about not treating him well when he was trying to do better and all that, right? But I’m trying to do the same here.”

He sighs and looks around the deck, his eyes landing on Arya’s in particular, “I only agreed to come because of my sister, and I honestly thought I was going to regret this, but I don’t. You guys are my friends, _my family_ too and I want us to get back on track.”

Arya gives him a hint of a pained smile, and he takes that as a small win, and a boost of confidence that his speech is working.

“We came out here to find this ship, so that’s what we’re going to do. Considering Beric’s last words of wisdom, I don’t think he’d want you to be wasting your time out here regretting that you couldn’t help save his life. He’d want you to be taking his words seriously, to not let the moments slip away. So, stop being sad saps and let’s get back down there before I think that swimming with the sharks would be fun.”

That earns him a laugh from all six of them. Victory achieved.

Arya stands up from her spot on the arm of the chair that Rickon sits in, “Don’t be a fool Baratheon…” she walks closer to him, her face emotionless and his heart catches in his throat, “swimming with the sharks is fun as shit. You should try it sometime.”

He releases the breath he’s holding onto and smiles, “Only a freak like you would think that Stark.”

“Oh yeah? You weren’t complaining when this freak was….”

Rickon’s loud voice stops her words in their tracks, and he smiles at the fact that she’s back to her old self, teasing him about their night together, “Okay, we get it, that’s enough of that. Geez.”

Mya jumps up too, excitement all over her face, “Get your shit together freaks, we’re going treasure hunting!”

*********

Gendry smiles brightly in the mask of his wetsuit as they navigate their way atop the sandy seabed, eager to get back to what they’re here for.

He watches patiently as the girls use the metal detectors while he and Rickon keep an eye on their surroundings, looking out for any unexpected visitors all the while mapping out the grid of the already searched area.

He’s sure to make certain that the final cone in Yara’s vicinity is secure on the bottom of the ocean floor when Rickon slaps his arm, the sand momentarily blinding him as it settles slowly, “Look over there.”

He follows Rick’s line of sight and sees a small group of jellyfish swimming lazily about, “And that’s why Hot Pie doesn’t come down here.”

He wants to make a comment about how he himself doesn’t know if he shares the same allergy his friend does when Arya yells through their comms that she found something.

Dropping their equipment to save the spot they’re working from; everyone rushes over to where Arya is struggling to dig through the sand in search of whatever had set her metal detector off so rapidly.

It’s large, and clearly rusted over and they realize fairly quickly that they won’t be able to get it back on the boat without some mechanical help, “I’ll go get the crane.”

After half an hour of using the crane to pull up what they can tell is part of an anchor, they finally get the heavy piece of iron on a cart to roll it into the room with the chemicals needed to bring a little life back into the old thing.

Letting the science work, it’s way through, they all gather around waiting somewhat impatiently for it to finish.

Gendry looks at Arya who is particularly on edge versus the rest of them, “You know there’s no guarantee that this came from Cat’s ship, right?”

She chews on her bottom lip keeping her eye on the anchor, “I know, I know. It’s just…”

She hesitates, clearly anxious about discovery where this anchor came from, “I want to prove it wrong.”

He crosses his arms as he leans back against the doorframe, the others lost in their own thoughts and in their own conversations as she speaks.

“Come again?”

“I want to prove the legend wrong. I know this ship is out here somewhere, I can feel it. I just want to prove that she didn’t leave behind her family and the man that she loved for nothing. I want to find the truth of what happened to her.”

Gendry stands up straight and walks over to where Arya stands next to his sister, who is completely infatuated with their conversation.

“Then that’s what we’ll do. We’ll find the truth, and the treasure that comes along with it.”

They both smile while Mya gives him a knowing grin, clearly reading more into the situation than what’s actually there.

When Arya folds back into the excitement of figuring out where the anchor came from, Gendry sneaks silently out of the room unnoticed and makes his way up to the bridge.

He scans the list of important numbers hanging on the wall and locates the one he needs before picking up the satellite phone and dialing.

It rings a total of three times before Tywin Lannister’s voice comes through the opposite end.

Clearing his throat, Gendry struggles for a decent greeting for someone he’s only spoken to a handful of times since he was nine years old, “Hello, Mr. Lannister.”

“Who is this? Where is Arya?”

Apparently, Arya is one of the only ones to call him from this number so as expected, this isn’t a call that their boss had anticipated. 

“Gendry Baratheon, sir.”

“Gendry? What on Earth are you doing on that ship?”

“Uh, Mya hired me as the new mechanic. She didn’t tell you?”

“No, but that’s irrelevant. Ms. Stone and Ms. Stark are both contracted to hire whomever they see fit. What is the reason for this phone call, son?”

“I need a favor. Uh, regarding this ship we’re trying to locate.”

“What do you need? And how much is it going to cost me?”

After explaining to Tywin what he’s after and getting the conformation that things will be delivered via helicopter the next morning, Gendry makes his way back down to the treasure room where everyone else is.

They discover that the piece of the anchor is very old but has no telling marks or words to indicate which ship it belonged to in it’s prime. Which is a slight setback, but not enough to get them down again.

By the time the sun sets they decide that they’ll take the anchor for what it’s worth and add it to the _maybe_ pile of possible Nymeria artifacts.

But the fact that they found something has their spirits and expectations high and that’s all Gendry could want at the moment.

*********

He doesn’t tell them that he’s waiting for a package to arrive for he wants to surprise them when it gets here, so the fact that’s he pacing about the upper deck of the ship has Arya nervous about what he’s doing out there.

“If you’re thinking about jumping, at least go get an oxygen tank first so I don’t have to save your dumbass.”

“Funny. I’m actually waiting on something.”

“What are you…” Her words trail off as she looks past his shoulder and when he turns abruptly around, he immediately spots the subject of her speechlessness.

The Lannister helicopter hovers about the ocean a few hundred yards away causing the ship to rock unsteady back and forth before an automatic drone is launched, carrying a net that holds a few different size boxes.

They catch the net in both their hands before the drone unhooks the mechanism and the boxes drop on deck.

The drone flies off and soon the helicopter is gone as well, leaving behind only the delivery that Gendry was waiting on.

“What is all this? And how did you get it?”

Obviously hearing the commotion going on outside the ship, the others make their way onto the deck, curiosity getting the better of each of them.

“I called in a favor to Tywin. Asked him to get some history books that were exclusive to the libraries in Westeros. You know the ones that they keep in the glass boxes with the laser lights and shit?”

“Are you shitting me right now? That is so awesome, mate!” Rickon excitedly exclaims as him and Hot Pie work to get the boxes open, albeit as carefully as they can manage in their impatient states.

Arya eyes him playfully, yet suspiciously, “How did you convince him to pull those kinds of strings?”

He shrugs nonchalantly, “Just told him that it’ll be worth his while. The faster we find this ship, the faster he can show off all the artifacts in his new fancy museum.”

She shakes her head in acknowledgment as he continues, “And I told him it would make you happy, I can sense that he has a soft spot for you, Stark.”

She smiles brightly, her steel eyes gleaming in the sunshine, “Most people do.”

And before he realizes what’s happening, she’s wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug, to which he momentarily pauses before returning the gesture and holding her close to him.

While he may have told Missandei that he was pretty intimidated by the likes of Yara Greyjoy, he’s quickly learning that Arya Stark is the scariest woman he knows, and for so many different reasons he has yet to fathom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 10 might take a minute for me to even start because I have a lot going on up until after election day.   
> But I promise it will be worth the wait. 
> 
> Also, a time jump to August!


	10. out where the lightning splits the sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A raging storm, new findings, a tale of betrayal, and unexpected comfort. 
> 
> "Holding Out For A Hero" Ella Mae Bowen (Cover) (This cover ONLY)   
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FnOY86v390
> 
> Song Featured: "I See Red" By Everyone Loves an Outlaw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is super late, but better late than never. This chapter also begins with a time jump. June-->August 
> 
> Seriously, don't listen to any other version of this song. It won't be the same.

**_Through the wind and the chill and the rain_ **

**_And the storm and the raging flood_ **

**_Oh, his approach is like the fire in my blood_ **

****

****

**August 12, 2020- 08:08**

“How the fuck do you know about that?”

Gendry asks their Captain with wide eyes, mirroring Arya’s exact same amused expression as Hot Pie and Rickon snicker beside Missandei at the breakfast table and Mya rolls her eyes as if they’re not the most obvious two of everyone here when it comes to the shenanigans they find themselves involved in.

“You’re not as subtle as you think you are.” Missandei replies with a cheeky grin, “Hot Pie always knows when Gendry sneaks out of their room and the DVD cases are never put back in the right spot when you’re done. HP’s always rearranging them back and then cursing about it later.”

For the past few weeks, Arya and Gendry have a new thing where they marathon movie series together in the rec room after everyone goes to bed. And the only reason Arya was hesitant about letting them know about their little late-night watching sessions is because that used to be her and Missandei’s thing before Gendry came into the shuffle.

Arya doesn’t think it’s a surprise to anyone on this ship that her and Gendry have gotten very close over the past couple of months. Despite their awkward and rocky start to this trip, they’ve gone from a weird version of lover-enemies to best friends all the while dealing with treasure and pirates and more drunken bar mishaps.

They share a bond unlike the others, and she knows that he’ll have a place in her life for a very long time if she has anything to say about it and she knows that he feels the same way.

Never mind the fact that her heart _and_ hormones go absolutely bat shit crazy every time he teases her about something. Or smiles. Or laughs. Or looks at her with adoration swirling in his deep ocean blue eyes.

Yeah, she’ll just continue to ignore all those facts. No big deal.

Arya looks back sheepishly at the resident chef, “Sorry Hot Pie. I’ll do better from now on.”

One thing they’ve always maintained as a team is each other’s habits or preferences and, in this case, Arya hasn’t been as attentive as she should have been to Hot Pie’s preference of keeping all their movies on the shelf in alphabetical order.

“Thanks, Arry.”

He goes back to eating their big pancake breakfast while she turns to admit a few truths to Missandei, “Sorry to you too, love. I just didn’t want to tell you cause that used to be our thing. I didn’t want you to feel like I replaced you or something, s’all.”

Missandei reaches over and grabs Arya’s hand across the table, squeezing it with gentle reassurance, “I could never feel that way with you. I like the fact that you two are so close now, you’re cute together.”

Arya’s eyes widen at that latter sentiment and she can tell that her friend only said it to stir up a little bit of harmless trouble.

“It…” She stammers, unable to control the flush in her cheeks, “It’s not like that, we’re _friends_.”

She doesn’t dare look to where Gendry is eating at the opposite end of the table, but from the corner of her eye she can tell that he’s looking firmly at his plate, almost with the same shade of pink as her own face highlighting the beard he’s starting to grow.

Mya slaps her brother on the back with a snort, “Yeah, we know, love. But the way you two were arguing over who would win the arm-wrestling contest Rickon and Yara had last month was the cutest fucking shit I’ve seen in a long time. You’re adorable even when you fight and it’s almost disgusting.”

She remembers that well, Gendry sticking up for Yara and her having her bother’s back, they argued for twenty minutes before the match even happened. And the teasing that Gendry gave her when Yara ultimately won two out of three times didn’t help take away any of the cuteness Mya was referring to.

Damn those Baratheon bastards.

“Whatever.”

She tries to focus the attention away from the two of them and onto the group itself, “How about another game night when we’re done with this last grid?”

Collective answers of _yes_ and _sounds good_ chorus through the room except for Yara who chimes in with a few suggestions, “Fine but we’re not playing Double Take. At least we’re not if you and Gendry are going to be partners again. You fucking obliterate us every time when you guys are partners and you’re _always_ partners, and it’s not bloody fair.”

She looks amusedly annoyed, “Especially that last time when Mya and Rickon were teammates. You lot took sibling rivalry to a whole new level and it wasn’t even the same set of siblings on the same team!”

Hot Pie, Missandei, and Yara all share a laugh towards their teammates while the mates in question sulk in their own misery of being mocked for their over dramatic ways that night.

Finishing up their breakfast, they hear a distinct chime come from the PA system, one that Gendry has yet to be aware the significance of, “What’s that?”

Arya watches as Yara sighs subtly and then walks out of the room, “The weather radar, she has it set up to alert us of any new patterns we need to be made conscious of, usually just means some rain or a light storm is going to blow through soon.”

She hopes that’s all it is because anything worse than that will have her seriously on edge until after it’s passing, and she’ll be absolutely useless otherwise.

Arya has always hated anything that’s associated with thunder and lightning and anytime it happens out on the sea, which thankfully hasn’t been very often in the years she’s been out here, her anxiety rises tenfold and she finds it difficult to concentrate on anything else.

While Yara’s gone, they each help clean up after the meal, keeping the conversation light and uplifting.

She can tell that her nerves are already on display when both Hot Pie and Rickon keep giving her worried sad smiles, while Gendry just watches her like he’s trying to figure out what the fuss is all about.

Yara returns just as the table is cleared, looking at Arya in particular with the face of someone who is about to bear bad news, “Radar indicated a storm about a hundred klicks east of here and headed our way.”

She continues to hold Arya’s gaze and she knows she’s holding something back, “Oh for fuck’s sake, just spit it out.”

“Even though it’s moving slowly, the storm is growing rapidly, not sure what it will be like once it reaches us, but by the time it reaches Dorne they’ll be facing a forceful hurricane.”

Which means it’s going to being hitting them like a bitch in a matter of hours, _perfect_.

Arya bites her bottom lip and tries to hide the shakiness in her voice, “Great. We better get to work then.”

The first time they faced a powerful storm while out at sea they were completely unprepared and wasn’t ready for the repercussions of the significant damage it had done by the time it passed them.

The second time they were better equipped and a little more knowledge of what they should do for minimal damage.

This time should be no different.

Like those storms before, they are too far out to get to shore on time, so they have to hammer down and do what’s necessary to keep this ship afloat and keep themselves safe from heavy winds and torrential waves.

Arya fucking _hates_ hurricane season.

**********

After two hours of boarding up all windows and double boarding the windows to the bridge, they drop a second anchor and work on clearing out all furniture and the like from each deck.

Taking each chair and table, they stack them up along the hallway where the cabins are, leaving just enough space for them to still walk through without any issues.

While the others work on securing the rest of the rooms, Arya, Gendry and Hot Pie busy themselves with making sure all lose items are put away safely in the kitchen as they are estimating that the already ungodly harsh waves they’ve dealt with so far will be exceptionally rough with this one.

As Hot and Pie and Gendry are finishing up, Arya makes her way over to the door, leaving Gendry questioning what she’s about to get up to next, “I’ve got some picture frames in my room I want to put away just in case, you guys good in here?”

Gendry nods as he stacks each chair on top of the other in the corner of the room while Hot Pie heads her way, “I’ve got some too if you don’t mind us sharing the space, Arry.”

“Of course not, Hot Pie, come on.”

He watches as the two leave and he’s left alone for the first time all day.

That is until Rickon comes in looking sheepishly worried, an eerie contrast to his usually happy and go lucking self.

“Hey mate, I need a favor.”

Gendry sighs and all but gives up on getting the chairs to stay straight rather than fall slightly towards the pantry door, “Dude, I’m not hiding anything you smuggled off of Lys from Arya again. Once was enough.”

Rick looks mildly offended, yet amused at the same time, “Whatever, it’s nothing like that. I uh…”

The young Stark looks genuinely concerned with whatever it is he wants to ask of him, which has him sobering up all thoughts of teasing him about anything else, “What is it, then?”

Leaning against the small island in the middle of the room, he watches as a million emotions cross Rickon’s child-like face, “I just wanted you to look out for Arya tonight, I know you two are weirdly close now, and like uh, distract her or something, I don’t know.”

Confusion has him furrowing his eyebrows and nervously scratching the back of his neck, “I don’t understand, mate. Why would I need to distract her?”

Sighing heavily, Rickon begins to explain what’s weighing heavily on his mind, “Arya really hates thunderstorms, okay? Bouncing waves from a hurricane and harsh wind, no problem, she can take it like a champ, it’s just the thunder and lightning that really gets to her.”

He says nothing because the look on Rickon’s face has him knowing the boy isn’t finished just yet, “You know our dad and your uh, Robert Baratheon were good friends right, so you must have heard that our dad, Ned Stark died a long time ago.”

That he did know, so it comes as no surprise.

“Anyway, he died in a car accident. There was a really bad storm that night, like really bad. Lightning had knocked down a tree in the road and he didn’t see it in time and swerved off the road and hit another tree. He died on the way to the hospital.”

Gendry can feel his heart rate increase but not from his own feelings but the empathy he feels for what Arya must be going through.

“I was too little and so was Bran so we stayed at home with Nan while mum took Arya and the others with her to the hospital, the storm had knocked out all the power on the way, nothing but darkness. Robb and Sansa were old enough to understand but I really think it had a traumatic effect on Arry. She’s never been the same every time it storms.”

He couldn’t imagine going through something like that, losing a parent the way she did. At least with his mother he got to say goodbye. Arya and her father never stood a chance. Just like that he was gone.

Rickon, lost in his own memories, remains quiet and absentmindedly stares at the wall behind Gendry as he clears his throat and finds the words he needs to say. The only words that matter to him.

“I’ll look out for her, I promise. Keep her mind off things, make sure she’s good. You have my word.”

Standing next to Arya’s brother, he lays a hand on his shoulder and gives him a reassuring smile, one that is returned just as happily.

It’s a promise he intends to keep. The thought of Arya, his best friend, going through those emotions again, reliving them alone is more than he can stand to bear.

One thing he never wants to see is Arya Stark anything but vibrantly content, and radiantly happy.

**********

With the final preparations in place, boards up on the cabins that have windows, Arya’s included, Gendry and the others find themselves gathered in the rec room busying their minds with books, music, and the like.

With the first sound of rain comes the first rumbling of thunder off in the near distance indicating a quick approach of the hurricane they’ve been anticipating. Gendry keeps his eyes focused on Arya across the room lounging on the couch with her head in Mya’s lap, his sister’s hands lazily flowing through Arya’s hair in a comforting manner and deep down he realizes that there is a small part of him that’s envious, wishing he could take her place and be the only comfort Arya needs, in so many ways.

Another clap of thunder, louder and closer this time has him realizing something else, that he needs to make good on his promise to Rickon and get Arya’s mind focused on something important _before_ it’s too late and the storm takes over her consciousness completely.

He closes the book, some mindless fiction that Missandei recommended to him in favor of getting Arya’s attention, “Oi, Stark.”

He smiles slightly when he sees Arya’s head pop up, her hair an absolute mess but he can’t help but to admire the flawless natural beauty that she has both inside and out.

“What do you want?” She rolls her eyes as she flattens her soft brown hair down to a normal, causal look.

“Get over here.” They stand up about the same time as Arya meets him at the large bookshelves aligning the corner wall.

“The fuck do you want, Baratheon. You interrupted a perfectly good head massage.”

He opens his mouth for a witty retort, but she slams it down immediately causing him to laugh without hesitation.

Sobering up his amusement at her annoyance through a smile, “I just thought we could go back through those books that I managed to get from Tywin before we have to send them back. I know we already combed through ‘em once or twice but another look can’t hurt, right?”

She sighs but agrees nonetheless, not willing to put up a fight.

After laying all the rare editions out on the table, they scan them again slowly, one a time, leaving the copies they know to be useless off to the side knowing full well that they are of no substance to the information they seek.

Just about ready to give up altogether, Gendry slams the book he’s on closed and slides it harshly across the table causing it to slide into another right onto the floor, which in turn causes Arya to slap him on the arm and berate him about taking care of the priceless and very expensive artifacts that are on loan.

He watches as she bends down to grab the fallen pages and when it takes her a few seconds longer to return from the floor, he too bends over to see what has grabbed her attention so suddenly.

“What the bloody hells are you doing down there?”

She’s reaching, well _attempting_ to reach for something that has been displaced in the far dust filled corners of underneath the old chair that’s been used for heavy reading by the likes of each of them over the years.

Even though her voice is muffled both by the floor and the hollowed space under the chair, he still manages to make out her reasoning, “There’s a book back here.”

Standing up and dusting herself off, said book in hand, he watches her as she sits down slowly, studying the front cover carefully, “I’ve never seen this one.”

She hands it to Gendry and he remembers why it looks familiar, “Oh yeah, this is one that came with this lot, it was right on top out of the box actually, but I totally forgot about it, must have gotten lost when we were unpacking.”

Arya’s eyes light up and a bright smile adorns rosy cheeks, “Wait, so you’re telling me none of us have read this one yet?”

“Right as usual, Stark.” He looks at the top cover before handing it back to her, “I can’t make out the title, it’s very old.”

She squints, struggling to read the ancient lettering, “I think it says _The_ at the beginning, and then maybe _hose_ or something.”

He waits for her to continue piecing it together, “The Hose? Yeah, that ‘otta be super helpful.”

She huffs away his sarcasm and continues regardless of his negativity, “Then there’s _white_ , and _back_ maybe?”

The true title and meaning hit them both harder than the waging wind outside the comfort of their walls as the yell in unison, “The House of Black and White!”

That got everyone’s attention, and Rickon is the first to join in on the commotion, “Like the coin we found?”

“Exactly, this book might be able to tell us if Cat really trained there, then we’ll know for sure that the coin was hers and that we have a solid lead!” Arya exclaims excitedly, not being able to control her own happiness.

He smiles to himself knowing that his plan is working, and she is already thoroughly distracted from the hurricane.

Missandei scans the book with her brown eyes, “Let me see that? Oh, it’s in Braavosi.”

Arya looks slightly defeated, “Well my Braavosi is not very good so unless someone here is fluent…”

Missandei smiles at her friends and then begins to read in the native language, sparking curious looks of awe from everyone around her, “What?”

“You never told me you speak Braavosi?”

“I never needed to until now, I speak a lot of languages actually, but for the moment, let’s just focus on this one, okay?”

She flips through the first few pages, “It’s very old and hard to read after such a long time, but it looks like it’s the memoir or journal rather of one Jaqen H’ghar.”

Rickon chimes in with valuable information, “Yeah, I read about him once, he was like their leader or something.”

“I’ll read through this as best as I can and if I find anything that mentions Cat, I’ll let you know.”

While their fearless Captain is hard at work looking through the last book and their only hopeful lead, the others busy themselves with books and music, while the tv plays old cartoons in the midst of the background chatter surrounding them.

Gendry tries to focus his mind on the book he’s reading, but he’s also absentmindedly listening in on the conversation between Hot Pie, Rickon, and Yara, unable to resist the particular topic of conversation they’ve began discussing.

“Come on, Hot Pie, you’ve never been cheated on before? I feel like everyone has at some point.”

“Not that I know of mate, I wouldn’t want to know anyway now. It’s all in the past.”

Yara has noticed his eyes trailing off the book, so she asks him the ultimate question, “Oi, Baratheon? You ever been cheated on?”

He sighs and gives up on the book, tossing it to the side table, “Uh, no. At least I don’t think. Haven’t been in a lot of relationships before either.”

Rick looks as if everyone is purposefully trying to gain up on him and he’s not having it, “What the hells, then? Is it just a Stark curse or something?”

He’s suddenly very interested in that comment, surely, he can’t mean that…

“Wait, a _Stark_ curse, does that mean that you’ve _all_ been cheated on by a significant other?”

His heart beats erratically, thinking of the special kind of fucked up person that would have the audacity to do such a thing to his best friend.

“Yep. Even Arya.”

Hot Pie not so subtly kicks Rickon in the shin under the table causing him to yelp out loud, “I don’t think Arry would want you talking about that, mate.”

Hearing her brother yell from the opposite side of the room, he watches as she takes one earphone out and look their way, “Wouldn’t want you talking about what?”

Rickon blushes while rubbing the soreness out of his leg, “Uh, just that you, like all us Starks have been cheated on before.”

“Ah, whatever. Carry on then.” She says nonchalantly before aiming to put the headphones back in her ear properly, but Gendry’s voice stops her hands in place.

“No, wait. Is he serious?”

“Yes.”

“What did you do? I don’t see you taking such a thing lightly.”

“You really want to know?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, come here then.”

“Wait, what?”

Steel eyes dead eyeing him from the couch has him shutting his mouth and doing exactly what she’s asking of him as he walks slowly over to where she sits.

Bending down beside her, he leans his arms against the side of the old couch as she holds out one side of her earphones. Reluctantly and without breaking his eyes from hers, he watches as she flips through the playlist on her iPod and then finds the song she’s looking for, letting him listen which in turn is supposed to answer his question about how she handled the betrayal. He’s so confused.

The music plays and he listens to the words carefully, stunned at what he’s hearing, “ ** _Executioner style, and there won’t be no trial. Don’t you know that you’re better off dead. All I see is red, red…_** ”

He takes the sound out of his ear and looks at her with a sudden force of awe and skepticism, “You’re not serious?”

Her face gives nothing away to the violence she’s indicating, and for a few solid seconds, he’s terrified she isn’t joking. That is until a smile breaks through and she laughs animatedly.

“I’m totally fucking with you. I wanted to kill him, but that would be illegal.”

“And immoral?” He adds, hoping she shows a little bit of humility.

“Meh. I did get him back though. I do love a good revenge plan.”

Yara joins them on the empty space beside Arya on the couch, “She’s right. I was even there for it. It was beautiful.” 

Gendry watches as she looks over his shoulder to where Missandei is still combing through Jaqen’s journal and then back at him deciding that she has a little bit of time to dive into that story.

Before she begins, the ship rocks a little more unsteadily than it has been since the storm came along, prompting them all to stop whatever it is they’re doing and prepare for the worse. But luckily it only lasts less than a minute and things begin to calm down once more, the only sounds now are their heavy breathing and the rain beating down outside.

“So, three days after I caught him in bed with her, I decide that I had the perfect opportunity to get back at him right in front of me. His family was hosting a fancy dinner party at their house, and a lot of important people were supposed to be in attendance. Businessmen, billionaires, you name it.”

Yara leans in, “The Targaryens have their hands in just about everything prominent in Westeros.”

Of course, Arya would have dated a Targaryen.

“Anyway, we were at the party and I made sure he had plenty of champagne in him when I asked him to meet me in his room, naked.”

She starts to laugh, obviously fond of those memories, “Now keep in mind, Aegon’s room was on the bottom floor, right beside the guest bathroom and a mere few feet from where the guests were mingling amongst themselves, including paparazzi.”

“So of course, I got him naked, tricked him into letting me tie his hands to the headboard, and then wrote the word _cheater_ across his chest with my lipstick. I walked out of there with a shit eating grin and left the door wide open for everyone to see the shit-show I had created.”

Arya relaxes back into the couch with a lazy smile, “I don’t know what exactly happened after I left, but I know the reporters had a field day with those pictures in all the papers and magazines. It was wonderful.”

She sighs happily while Yara snickers beside her, “It didn’t take long for the pictures to start, word spread fast after he was caught by one of the guests trying to get his hands free. Took a solid five minutes of hounding by the guests and paparazzi before his father found him and put him out of his misery. We never saw Aegon again that night after they disappeared on the other side of the house.”

While Arya looks completely satisfied, Gendry remains speechless and a little turned on at her devious vengeance, “Wow. Remind me to never cheat on you.”

His ocean blue eyes instantly widen as the words fall out of his mouth without him really thinking about what they mean.

He feels the embarrassing smirks and giggles around him but the only thing he can focus on is the fiery rage burning in Arya’s eyes, like steel being hammered in a forge, and the pink flush appearing on her cheeks.

He stammers out a quick response, “I uh, I just meant that…”

She opens her mouth to yell at him most likely, but that notion is quickly diminished by Missandei announcing that she may have found something pertinent in the book she’s reading.

They all gather around the table and listen as Missandei reads the book aloud in their own native language, “A girl is young, but a girl is wise beyond her years. A girl disguises herself as a boy, but a man knows better. A girl goes by many names, but then none at all. A man knows when a girl is hiding something, perhaps that of noble birth.”

Yara looks at the pages unsure of what she’s hearing, “So we know that Cat was a highborn, but how can we be sure he’s talking about her?”

“That’s what I thought to, but then I kept reading. I can’t make out the days, but it seems like Jaqen had been captured somewhere in Westeros on his way back home in Essos.”

She flips a page and continues on, “A girl saved a man’s life. A girl was rewarded generously with a token of that which would in turn perhaps save her own life one day. A girl may appear as many names, a girl’s favorite being of a _feline_ species that can be disguised in any crowd, no matter nobility, but to a faceless man she will always be _no one_.”

The room stays eerily quiet until they realize that Jaqen very well may be talking about Cat herself, “That has to be her, right? But listen to this, apparently Cat and Clovis, or whatever his name was goes back farther than we thought, I think they knew each other as children too.”

“How can you tell?”

Her eyes dart to the right, “A girl may even appear with her two most trusted allies, an orphan with a brave soul and that of which a man unbeknownst to him also hails from noble birth, regardless a debt is to be paid and so all are welcome.”

“I think he’s talking about her Lord love, who obviously wasn’t a Lord back then, but still. They knew each other before the long night.”

Gendry thinks about these new revelations, as Arya begins to add new notes to their findings, “Okay, so it’s confirmed that the coin did belong to Cat and that she met Jaqen some odd years before becoming the bringer of Dawn.”

Missandei agrees as does the others, “And H’ghar also says that Cat appeared to him years later in Braavos, alone. So, it’s speculated that she trained with them briefly before going back home to Westeros and being reunited with her family.”

Arya writes as Mya voices her conformations out loud, “And now we know that Cat and Clovis, shit that name is bloody terrible, we really need to learn his actual name, knew each other back in the day.”

“Right, and we also learned in one of the other books we got from Tywin that _Clovis_ , was spotted some years after Cat’s ship went down in Essos.”

Hot Pie looks a little sad, “I think that he couldn’t handle losing his friend and took off to find a new life. Somewhere that didn’t remind him of her.”

Arya looks even more defeated than she did before. She wanted to prove the story wrong and now it seems like it’s being found to be exactly what it is, “You think?”

The words spill from his mouth, before he or anyone else can stop them, “I agree. I think that losing her was probably the worst thing that happened to him and he gave up. He abandoned his noble duties in favor of living out his life without the constant image of her flowing through his mind wherever he went. I think I would feel the same way if I lost the only person in the world I ever truly loved.”

He speaks to everyone, but his eyes remain hellbent on Arya’s, and hers the same. As if he’s speaking of his true feelings. For her. Without him even realizing what any of it means.

He can see her grey eyes glazing over with sadness as the wind and rain howl outside, “Okay.”

“So, that’s our conclusion, eh? I need to write it down?” Missandei asks as she takes the pen and notebook out of Arya’s hands.

“Aye.” But it seems as if she can’t tear her eyes away from his either.

**********

She’s not stupid, or ignorant for that matter. She knew exactly what Gendry was trying to do when he asked her to go back over those books they got. Rickon must have asked him to keep her thoughts from focusing on the storm outside, and rightfully so.

Regardless of his intentions or where they came from, she’s happy for it because it led them to the lost book under the chair they probably never would have found otherwise. Not to mention the amount of trouble they’d be in with Tywin if it wasn’t accounted for in the return shipment to the museums.

Arya is grateful for the distraction, if only temporary. She even had a little fun getting a rise out of her cheating scandal with Aegon in him thinking that she murdered the poor man.

They all do a double check of the ship, to make sure all the safety precautions are still holding up before bed, the lasts ones to retreat for the night are her and Gendry as they walk causally down the hall toward her single room, then him off to the room he shares with the resident chef.

“Thank you for insisting we go back over the books; I don’t think we would have discovered Jaqen’s journal without your childlike fits you throw when you’re frustrated about something.”

He looks mildly offended and all kinds of cute, forcing her to avert her eyes to the painfully plain walls on either side of them, “Hey, I don’t throw fits, okay?”

“Whatever you say Baratheon.” She rolls her eyes and nudges her elbow into his side playfully, as he tries to dodge the silly blows.

“You’re not as bad as I thought you were, Stark. Such a pain in my ass you were, especially that first night we met.”

“Wish I could say the same about you, you’re still an asshole, Baratheon.”

“Yeah, but I’m _your_ asshole, Stark.”

She scolds him with angry eyes and a pointed finger, “Go to bed, stupid.”

Arya closes the door behind her, not giving him a chance to utter another word or sarcastic response and as she makes her way over to her bed, ready to lie down, the thunder roars outside and a shudder rolls down her spine.

She tries, she really does. But sleep does not want to overtake her while the storm rages on and on. Hours go by and she’s still awake, the tears leaving their mark on her cheeks as she thinks back on the fateful night that she lost her father.

It’s only nights like these that make her remember so vividly, and thankfully they don’t happen very often out on the sea. But once in a blue moon, a hell of a storm comes, and she remembers it like it was yesterday.

She no longer tries to contain her sobs as she struggles to find peace. She closes her eyes once again, only this time she must be dreaming because suddenly she’s enveloped in the warm cocoon of strong arms that hold her like no one ever has before.

Gendry.

She doesn’t fight it, too tired to argue on his motives or what he’s doing. She knows what he’s trying to do. He’s trying to be the comfort they both know she so desperately needs right now.

There may be a thick comforter separating them, but she can feel the heat radiating off of his skin like a warm fire in the dead of winter, the fever spreading through the blood in her veins faster than what she can keep up with and she’s grateful to already be lying down the way he’s making her head spin with delight.

As she lays in the comfort of his arms wrapped around her small frame, her head and face buried in the crook of his neck breathing him in, she thinks about how it was possible for him to get to her so fast. Perhaps he never went to bed at all and was waiting outside her door to make sure she was okay.

That thought has all others flooding out of her mind and the only thing her mind can focus on is him. His scent, the ruggedness of his heavy breathing, the way his hands show no hesitation in being exactly what she needs right now, the strength the storm has taken from her, if only for a night.

She finds it highly ironic, compared to the last time they were in a similar position only a few short months ago. Somehow, she finds this moment to be more intimate than that first night could ever be.

They say nothing, letting each other’s soft embrace take over all sadness and fear and anxious states, and as she feels his body relax into the mattress, while still holding onto her as if both their lives depend on it, Arya feels herself begin to relax just as quickly and finally fall into a state of dreamless sleep.

**********

As her eyes flutter open ever so slowly, she can see gentle light attempting to peak through the wooden board over her window, the storm no doubt having long passed, replaced by a new day.

Despite the cold breeze on her front, she still feels a sort of weight on her chest when she realizes that Gendry is no longer there where she last knew him to be, but rather holding her from behind, his arm lazily draped over her midsection, holding her body close to his while he sleeps.

All those times falling asleep on the couch together during one of their many late night movie sessions, her waking up at three am to her head laying on his shoulder, his cheek pressed against her temple, those moments felt different than this. Like it just happened but it probably shouldn’t have. She never thought that waking up like this could feel so natural. So right.

The thought of having to move, of having to get out of bed has her groaning internally. If she had her way, she’d stay right here just like this for the rest of the day.

Arya feels Gendry stiffen subtly behind her although he too makes no move to get up or even move out of the position, they’re currently in.

She closes her eyes quickly and pretends to still be sleeping and once she thinks he’s satisfied with that conclusion; he wiggles slightly to hold her just a little bit closer.

She can’t stop the smile from spreading across her lips just as a loud bang on her door causes both of them to jump enough to ultimately ruin the moment, “Arya! Arya, wake up! You gotta come see this sky outside, it’s fucking epic!”

Fucking Rickon, this better be a damn good view or she swears to all seven she’s about to throw her brother off of this damn ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for Spoiler Saturday again? 
> 
> I've been anticipating moments in this chapter for some time now, so let me know what you think. 
> 
> Things are progressing, aren't they? ;)


	11. let it shatter the walls for a new sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I would suggest you two get a room, but you already have and the ones we have here are a bloody sauna.”   
> She flies past them, not missing a beat, “Come on, Yara says they’re almost done.” 
> 
> "A New Day Has Come" (Radio Remix) By Celine Dion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter before the new year begins! 
> 
> The only note I wanted to mention was the origin of Gendry's 'OG story' name which is Clovis.   
> I did not just randomly make that up, cause it's bad, ya'll. Lol   
> If you remember back in S7 when Davos grabs Gendry from the Street of Steal, he needed an alias so Dadvos started calling him Clovis, which was supposed to be the name he used with Jon but we all saw how that turned out. Anyway, just wanted to make that clear in case anyone was wondering where I got that from. Lol

**_Where it was dark now there's light_ **

**_Where there was pain, now there's joy_ **

**_Where there was weakness, I found my strength_ **

**_All in the eyes of a boy_ **

****

****

**August 13 th, 2020 – 07:42 **

“Why do I get the feeling that you guys don’t see skies like this very often?”

Smiling at Arya as he speaks, he can’t help but to marvel once again at how beautiful she is, even if she is a little sleep deprived with remnants of salty tears on rosy cheeks, she’s still the most gorgeous sight he’s ever laid eyes on, their present whereabouts that has captured her attention included.

She keeps her eyes to the sky above them, the bluest he’s ever seen with the most remarkable rainbow shining within it. It may be a beautiful sight indeed, but she’s all he can see.

“It’s rare. Rare enough that when we do get a view like this, we take as much of it in as we can.”

He’s aware that they’re not alone, the others spread out across the deck taking in the wonderful sight with just as much enthusiasm as Arya is, he only wishes that it was just the two of them, if only for a moment so that he can make sure she is alright, after the night she had in the treacherous storm that wrecked havoc on their ship, although not as much as he thought it would just by a quick glance of things.

“Arya, I…”

He wants to ask but instead when she turns his way and catches his eye, his voice falls silent but luckily, she fills it quickly before he completely loses it.

She looks nervous, but he supposes he may just be imagining that by the way his own nerves are rattling, “Thank you. For last night, I just…”

She pauses a beat, unsure of how to go on but when she covers her hand over his that’s resting on the railing, her breathing evens out and she gives him a small reassuring smile, “Thank you.”

It’s genuine, probably the most genuine he’s ever seen in her and the only thing he can do is nod slightly and return the gentle smile.

She pulls her hand away when Mya joins them, not too quickly but just fast enough to cause a small hint of rejection to rise within him, although that notion is beyond absurd considering the only reason, she pulled away in the first place is because the moment was broken, not because she didn’t want his sister to see them touching in a small, but intimate way.

He hopes.

He can tell that Arya puts on a strong façade in front of her friends, so perhaps she merely just didn’t want Mya to see how vulnerable she is around him, and if the night before proved anything, it showed him just how far Arya can let her walls down around him. Day by day since they first met, he’s been slowing making his way beyond her tough exterior, to where he wants to be the most.

Mya lays her arm lazily across his shoulder, “It’s quite pretty innit? Although it’s fucking scorching out here now don’t you think? Much warmer than yesterday.”

Yara joins them on Arya’s side with an annoyed expression, “Storm’s gone, but it’s leaving us with a nasty heatwave it seems.”

Before anything else can be said on the matter, a screeching, ear piercing noise is heard down below causing everyone to grimace in pain, “What the bloody hells was that?” Arya says while rubbing her ears.

“It sounds like it came from the boiler room,” Mya says looking directly at him.

He sighs heavily and hopes that it’s nothing too serious, “Guess that’s my cue. Be right back.”

He glances one more time at his best friend before stalking off to find the source of the wretched noise that ultimately may have ruined another chance at talking to Arya alone.

He hears footsteps behind him and hopes that it’s Arya following him but when he hears Hot Pie’s voice instead, that little bit of hope disappears just as quickly as it came.

“Hey, mate, how’d it go last night? Is Arry okay?”

Gendry’s mind falls to the night before, walking her to her room, seeing her fade into the darkness as she closed the door.

He walked as slow as he could and got halfway back to the room he shares with Hot Pie before realizing that there was no bloody way, he’d be able to leave her alone and get any sleep not knowing if she were going to be alright or not.

So, he raced back down to her room and debated for a good half hour whether or not to knock on the door and disturb her just to calm his own anxiety. Instead, he made himself comfortable on the hallway floor and kept his ears and eyes on her room for as long as he could.

With his feet falling asleep in their current position, he debated on giving up and going back to his room but the thought of leaving her made that decision for him. He was just about asleep when he felt a disturbance, only to find his roommate leaning over him with an offering of the pillow and duvet from his bed, with a soft smile of reassurance that he was doing the right thing.

Making himself comfortable once again with the bedding, he supposes he got about an hour of sleep before the noise coming from Arya’s room woke him and had him rushing to her side, wanting to bring her nothing but the solace she so desperately needed.

He could curse Rickon for waking them up when he did. He’s not ashamed to admit that sleeping with Arya in his arms was the best sleep he’s gotten in months, maybe even his entire life if he really thinks back on it.

He tries not to.

“Uh, yeah. I think she’s good mate. Had a nightmare but she got through it. You know Arya, she’s pretty tough.”

They walk in compatible silence on the way down to the boiler room, Hot Pie tagging along out of either mere curiosity or to lend a helpful hand. Knowing his roommate, it’s likely both.

“Thanks for the pillow and stuff last night, really helped.”

He slaps Hot Pie on the shoulder with a tight-lipped, yet genuine smile as he opens the door and walks in silently, his eyes and ears attempting to find anything out of the ordinary, but when he takes the first step, his eyes immediately fall to the floor and the water that covers it.

Looking around the room he spots the source of the noise they heard earlier and the repercussions it comes with.

“Looks like something knocked the AC out. See if you can find where this water came from, I’ll try to get this thing back up.”

After assessing the AC unit and discovering that the water had already done too much damage without replacing certain parts, he gives up on his task to help HP with his.

Grabbing a flashlight, they each search opposite sides of the room, with Gendry having zero luck of finding the source of the water.

“Mate! I think I found it!”

Hot Pie shines a light on the bottom of the wall behind the hot water heater and they both watch as water slowly pours into the room from the ocean.

“We need to get this plugged as soon as possible so it doesn’t damage anything else. We’re already going to be without air conditioning until I can get the part, I need to fix it.” 

“What do you think punctured it?”

“Coulda been anything. Stay here, I’ll go let everyone else know. We gotta get someone out there to plug the other side as well.”

Making his way back to the upper deck, he realizes that with the AC out and the new heat wave the aftermath of the storm caused, today is going to be interesting to say the very least.

With the heat already beginning to get to him, sweat forming on the back of his neck, he removes his shirt just as he steps out into the open air, the only thing covering his body are the low waisted cargo shorts he’s wearing and if he could take those off too, he definitely would.

Walking barefoot over to where the others are still enjoying the view, he swears he sees Arya’s eyes dilate when she notices his now shirtless form. Ignoring that, he looks at each one of them and speaks in general to the group, focusing on not looking at how Arya is looking at him, “AC’s out and the boiler room is slowly taking on water. We need to get the hole fixed before anything else goes out too. Rickon and I can handle the hole inside, but we’re gonna need someone to go down to plug the other side.”

“Shit, how fast can you get the AC back up and running, this heat wave is going to be a bitch without it,” Yara says with a grimace.

“Depends on how fast we can get to shore, can’t fix it without a new part or two. But that can wait, we gotta get this hole fixed first. So, who’s going down?”

Arya jumps up from the railing and nearly knocks into him, “I’ll go! I uh…” she fumbles her words as she tries to keep her eyes from diverting back to his bare torso glistening with small droplets of sweat.

“I uh, I’ll get it done, shouldn’t be too hard, and I uh…”

She takes a step back and bites on her bottom lip as she speaks, “Need to cool off too, this heat is really…”

Her eyes fall again and with them her lip from her mouth, “Hot.”

She manages to get the last word out with a blush before she stalks off quickly, leaving him reeling from the whole ordeal with their siblings and Captain, Yara already following closely behind.

Missandei smiles as her dark hair bounces in the breeze, “What did you do to her?”

Mya laughs loudly, “I think my little brother’s half nakedness broke her...”

Rickon cringes dramatically, “And that’s my cue to get as far away from this conversation as I can.”

Gendry sighs heavily, “And I’m getting away from your ridiculousness. You two are nothing but trouble, you know that?”

He spins around and watches as Missandei and Mya’s hips clash in a tight hug, each other’s arms wrapped around the other as his sister yells back at him, “And don’t you bloody forget it!”

His mind can’t even begin to comprehend the amount of tension radiating between him and Arya once he stepped shirtless onto that deck, the way she was looking at him but trying hard not to be obvious about it. She’ll be the death of him before this whole heat wave mess is over, he just knows it.

Arya is to meet them down below after she gets ready, while Rickon and Gendry take care of the damage to the inside of the ship.

He hears her before he sees her, or rather hears her cries and shrieks of laughter at the disbelief of all the water on the floor of their boat. “Seven hells, it’s a fucking mess down here. And hotter than them all too.”

He doesn’t know why but something tells his brain to look up at her and when he does, he knows his face matches her own shock, but for a completely different reason. Instead of the wetsuit he’s expecting her to have on, she’s cladded in only a black bikini while holding a pair of goggles and flippers in each hand.

Gendry also supposes that the look on his face while looking at her attire is the exact one, she wore when she spotted him half naked on the deck just minutes ago. Eyes dilated with lust, hands itching to touch every inch of bare skin on her mostly naked body.

He thinks about that first night, and how he wants more than anything to be able to have a repeat of exactly what they did, and much, much more.

Gendry falls back to the present when he realizes Rickon is trying to get his attention, while Arya just stands there behind him giving him the smuggest smirk, he’s ever seen her express.

He’s been caught, but she doesn’t look uncomfortable knowing what he’s thinking. The way her eyes stay focused on his make him think that perhaps she’s been thinking the same, devious things.

“This is what we need, right?” He looks to what Rickon’s holding and simply nods in agreement, knowing his voice would surely betray him.

Clearing his throat, he makes his way over to the wall that holds tools and miscellaneous things of the like, sensing Arya following him and the splash of water to go along with it.

“You okay there, Baratheon? You look a little pale.”

She’s teasing him but for the life of him he can’t throw it back at her, he knows for her safety she needs to be wearing a wet suit and an oxygen tank.

“Where’s your suit?” He steadies his breathing and focuses on gathering the items she’ll need to get the job done.

“It’s too fucking hot for that thing and I’ll only be down there for a couple minutes tops, I can handle myself without it.” Out of the corner of his eye he sees her shrug nonchalantly, but he’s not convinced that that’s the best route she should take.

“Still think you need a tank, it could take longer you know, anything could happen.”

“I’ll be fine, I promise.” The way she says it has him knowing that she’s not going to discuss the matter further and she’s already made up her mind. And when Arya Stark has her mind set on something, there’s no changing it.

After fixing the hole on the inside of the ship, Arya, Gendry and Rickon make their way to a middle part of the deck on the far side of the ship above the boiler room.

Putting on her flippers first and then her goggles, she gets ready with what she needs to make the jump, but Gendry grabbing her gently by the arm has her halting all motions and looking up at him with soft grey eyes, “Arya, I…” he pauses a moment and sighs, “Just be careful, okay?”

_Don’t get hurt. I need you._

She nods and the short pull of her lips upwards shows him that she understands what he really means.

She was right, it’s less than three minutes by the time she makes it down there, gets the hole plugged and then joins them back on the deck.

They’re quiet as they head back down the the boiler room, with Rickon stopping by to get the sand blaster tube they need to get the water back out of the ship and into the ocean where it belongs.

With the skies still clear and the rainbow gone, each of them work in perfect unison to clean up the aftermath of the raging storm and once everything is mostly back to normal and how it should be, they all meet back up in the boiling hot boiler room, something that rightfully earns its namesake.

“Our only problem now is getting the air conditioning back up and running, and from what I can tell it’s only affecting the resident cabins and the bathroom. So, for the time being, if the heat is too much, we should crash somewhere where it’s cooler. But I still need new parts to get it back up and running again.”

Missandei speaks first, eyes diverting to her, “We can head to shore first thing when the sun rises, Volantis should have what we need, and we can stay for the weekend if everyone agrees. Arya can make the arrangements with Tywin.”

Upon agreement, Arya makes another suggestion that he suspects has been on all their minds since they woke up this morning, “So, it’s safe to say that another few hours under before the sun goes down and the weekend truly starts is warranted, yeah? That storm was vicious so who knows what it shook up down there, I can’t be the only one anxious to get back down right?”

Rickon breaks the silence with a scream of “Fuck yes!” Followed by a loud high-five with Yara standing next to him, “Let’s go!”

They agree that since they discovered that the coin, they found did in fact belong to Cat, that should be the area they search around first, the opposite of where they’ve already been since then with the storm covering that half and the other being exposed after who knows how long.

***********

“Would you shut up already? I was not _flustered_.”

He watches from his stance next to Yara as Arya helps Rickon mark off a section of the seabed they’ve deemed to be empty of anything useful in their search of Cat’s ship.

“Don’t deny it Stark, you loved seeing me shirtless and I bet you’re secretly glad it’s hot as fuck on that boat so you can see it more often.”

He only teasing her because it’s fun and he loves seeing her all red and angry, and the fact that she won’t out right admit what he’s suggesting even though they both know it’s the Gods honest truth.

“I swear to all the Gods, Baratheon, that if you weren’t so hot and not totally fucking useless around here, you would have been dead already. Drowned on our very first outing.”

He laughs loudly through the comms in their masks and he hears her huff and puff in annoyance in return, but underneath that he hears a distinct sound of pained breathing, most likely coming from Yara who doesn’t find their bickering as endearing as the other team members do.

“Cut it out you two, I want to be able to hear this thing going off if and when we actually find something, alright?”

Gendry watches the bubbles fade away with every movement, along with a light dusting of sand from the sea floor from where they move about, marking each few yards of search area.

They’ve been down about four hours, give or take a few half hour breaks for decompression, and so far they’ve yet to find anything significant they can mark or even count as a win.

He’s just about to continuing teasing Arya, despite the warning and sure-fire wrath he’ll earn from Yara later when the metal detector that Mya is using starts screeching uncontrollably, the sound they long to hear under the sea.

Naturally, they all head over to where Mya has the machine pointed, save for Arya whose attention is engulfed in something elsewhere a few yards away.

“Here, help me move this sand, I think it’s pretty deep under.”

They work to remove a decent amount of sand that’s covering whatever it is that made the detector go off and once they hit something solid, they cheer in unison.

It’s corroded significantly, making it heavier than it probably is but they can tell that it’s something worth saving and cleaning up back on the ship.

After marking the exact coordinates of that find, they stay down a little bit longer, find a few more odds and ends, a few old pieces of wood that may be from an old ship, and a piece of a rusted chain that may have been attached to an anchor at some point in its prime.

Apart from the great find that they’re still unsure of, Gendry notices that Arya’s attention remains elsewhere so he swims over to where she’s scattering about, scaring her in the process, “Hey!”

He sees her jump and grab the space on her wetsuit where her heart is, the water and sand settling around them, “Don’t fucking do that, shithead.”

“What are you doing over here, we’re about to head back up?”

“Nothing, I thought I found something but it’s nothing. Let’s go.”

She looks a little defeated and yet he still sees a little bit of hopefulness within her, but he chalks that up to be anxiety over figuring out what’s underneath the corroded rock they found.

He suspects it’s a sword of some sort by the shape of the corrosion, but they can’t know for sure until they get it up in the tank.

A good find now, before they head to shore for another relaxing weekend is exactly what they need to keep their spirits up and be excited about getting back out there come Sunday.

***********

With the AC not working and the newfound heat wave still making its presence known, it comes as no surprise to anyone that everyone is wearing as little as possible in order to beat the heat. Now normally, this wouldn’t bother Gendry but the fact that his sister is walking around half naked along with the current (and most recently had) woman of his darkest desires is a slight issue.

Everywhere he turns he spots Arya looking like a fucking goddess wearing only a sports bra and the shortest pair of shorts he’s ever seen on another human being, sweat glistening her toned stomach making her belly button ring shine and catch the light in his eye on more than one occasion.

He runs into said desire as he makes his way to the treasure room where Missandei and Yara have already began the process on the sword they found.

She’s reading a book so it’s all too easy to sneak up on her from behind, but she’s not having any of it as he inches closer and closer, “Don’t even think about it, asshole.”

Whatever he was going to do, because in all honesty he has no idea what his hands would have done once he actually reached her, falls short as the words spill from her rosy lips.

Instead, he keeps with her pace walking next to her and remains quiet with an amused smile on his face. But that smile falls as well when she stops abruptly and turn his way, “Wait.”

He stops too and holds his breath as she steps forward, pinning him against the wall, “What were you just about to do?”

Even through the thick fabric of her sports bra, he can feel her solid nipples against his torso, and it takes everything in him not to just reach out and touch…

That thought gets lodged in the back of his brain as her fingers begin to trail along his abdomen, leaving her trace in the moisture that’s began to form due to the rising heat.

He grabs her hand and as soon as they fully touch for the first time since spooning that very morning, he curses his body for instinctively rushing all of his blood south under his swimming trunks, “Careful there, Stark. That’s dangerous territory and I wouldn’t want you to start something you can’t finish…”

He trails off, letting her consider his words and the meaning behind them. She drops her hand from where it’s resting between them, but he doesn’t let go, not yet.

Instead, he lightly traces his fingers over hers, letting her decide to fully intertwine them or simply pull away, but unfortunately when Mya is heard from the other end of the hall, what happens next is chosen for them.

“I would suggest you two get a room, but you already have and the ones we have here are a bloody sauna.”

She flies past them, not missing a beat, “Come on, Yara says they’re almost done.”

Silence fills the space around them once again, and it’s laced with the most charged tension he’s ever felt from her.

Upon entering he sees Rickon and Hot Pie across the room talking, while the girls surround the tank that holds their new treasure, indicating that it is in fact, a silver sword, one of the most unique he’s ever seen in real life.

Gendry remembers being a teenager sneaking into the history museum and marveling at the old swords on display, wishing he could have the opportunity to create such a beautiful thing.

As Missandei pulls the sword from the tank and dries it off, he notices just how intricately detailed the handle is.

Wrapped around the end of the weapon is a wolf’s head and a stag, intertwined as if they’re one whole being instead of two different creatures.

As the captain holds the piece up for everyone to see, Rickon looks at it more closely than anyone else, thoughts racing clearly through his mind, “Hey Arya, you remember those bedtimes stories dad used to tell us about how all the old Starks are descendants of wolves?”

“Yeah, and then afterwards I’d dream that I was one. I forgot about that. They kinda went away after he was gone.”

Hot Pie looks a little scared, yet oddly intrigued by the new information, “So it’s possible then? Cat or whatever her real name was really could be a long-lost ancestor of the Stark family?”

He’s too focused on the marksmanship to comment on what Hot Pie says, for he knows he’s seen something similar somewhere before.

“I’ve seen this Stag before. Or at least one that closely resembles it, it’s the logo for the Baratheon corporation.”

As soon as the words fall from his lips, it clicks. It’s all over everything related to Robert and Stannis’ business.

Mya appears by his side, ready to dive into that theory even further, “And it was used on the program at Robert’s funeral.”

Yara wears the same expression as his roommate, disbelief yet not, “Why would they use that particular animal on their logo though?”

Memories he hasn’t thought of in a very long time start to flow through his brain as if it were something so simple he thought on a daily basis, “Robert told me once that when him and Stannis were younger, they got into some trouble after going into a certain area of the family library that was off limits, said It was on the cover of some old family book and they thought it was cool so they started drawing it on everything and it eventually became a brand name.”

“Okay, now this is just getting creepy.” Mya says with skepticism, “What are the chances that Cat would be related to Arya and that her mystery man would be associated with the Baratheon’s?”

“Maybe it’s fate.” Missandei says for the first time since they’ve dived into two separate family connections, causing them all to look at her with wide eyes, “Think about it, what if it’s destiny? The stars are aligned once again over a century later repeating history with the two of you.”

“You can’t be serious?” Yara says with a scuff of doubtfulness, “How can we even be sure that this is Cat’s sword? Say you’re all right, and that Cat and the Starks are connected and the same with the bastard here, where did she even get something like this?”

Gendry ignores the bastard comment, he knows that there’s no true bite in it and focuses on the more relevant aspects, “A weapon like this, such delicacy and intimacy with the craftsmanship had to be made from someone personally close to her.”

He looks at Arya when he speaks, not being able to tear his eyes away from hers for some odd reason, like what they’re discussing has him drawn to her even more, “We did speculate that the Lord was once a blacksmith, it’s likely it was made by him for her.”

He can tell by the flush in her cheeks, she’s not liking being the object of this subject, so in true Arya fashion, she deflects, “Well if you really are related to this Lord, then maybe he should have made it a bulls head instead considering what a stubborn ass you are.”

He laughs and decides to indulge her in steering away from the emotions this info is causing in the both of them, “Regardless, the material and condition this sword is in is incredible. Adding the age and quality, it’s definitely worth a pretty penny. We should count this as a huge win and continue the search from where Mya picked this up.”

Missandei nods and begins to wrap the sword up for storage in the safe, “We got lucky with the hurricane and the timing of finding this, but it might not be that easy, the rest could be spread out even further.”

“I’ll take that challenge and raise you a trip to Volantis. Made the arrangements with Tywin today so we’re all set.” She pauses and heads for the door but stops briefly to turn back around and address another sensitive topic, “We’ll need to take turns in the bridge, and I’d say the rest of us camp out in the rec room since it’s coolly air conditioned.”

Missandei and Mya take the first shift in navigating them straight to Volantis and while Gendry helps Rickon and Yara move the furniture in the recreation room in order for all of them to fit properly across the floor, he catches Arya’s eye as she walks in with an armful of pillows.

When she gives him a shy smile in return, his heart increases in rhythm and he gets the strangest feeling that this weekend trip to shore is about to change everything for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone has great start to the new year! 
> 
> The infamous chapter 12 will be soon. ♥


	12. wish that I could let you love me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mini mission, some minor scheming, and a night that changes things. 
> 
> "Let You Love Me" (Acoustic Version) by Rita Ora (aka my Mya)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things before we start:  
> Beware the extremely long chapter. (If that's your thing, then you're welcome, if not, oh well.)  
> I changed a book character's appearance for the sake of this story.  
> The new character Abe hails from another tv show, kudos to whoever guesses that one.  
> I highly recommend listening to these songs either before or while you read.  
> Those songs are: Make You Feel My Love by Adele (I’m particularly fond of this cover, but really any version will do); Beside You by Marianas Trench; Terrible Love (Alternate Version) by The National  
> *apart from the Adele cover, it’s imperative to listen to the exact versions listed*

**_I think I run away sometimes  
Whenever I get too vulnerable  
And that's not your fault._ **

**_See I wanna stay the whole night_   
_I wanna lay with you 'til the sun's up_   
_I wanna let you inside_   
_Oh, heaven knows I've tried._ **

**_I wish that I could I let you love,_ **

**_Wish that I could let you love me now._ **

**August 15, 2020 – 14:53**

“Are you going to let me help you or do you just wanna risk breaking your neck?”

Arya’s grey eyes follow the deep voice as she looks up to meet Gendry’s own ocean blue eyes swirling with that signature amused annoyance and for a second, she doesn’t even register what’s going on, too lost in her own thoughts that have invaded her mind because of the hand that he’s holding out to help steady her, images of the moment they shared only twenty-four hours ago in the hallway dancing around in her head like a dream you don’t want to wake up from.

If only Mya had not shown up when she did, who knows what would have happened between them, and she can’t stop thinking about the what ifs long enough to grasp her current reality, which is going to be face planting the salt water below between the docks and the deck of the ship if she’s not careful.

Hence the reason Gendry waits for her to grab ahold of his hand to keep her from falling as she climbs off the boat and onto solid ground and the shore of Volantis, Essos.

Reluctantly, because she is just fine on her own, she takes his hand in hers without looking at him fully, too afraid he’ll distract her and end up making her fall anyway, despite how gracious she always is. When it comes to being around Gendry as of late, she’s hesitant to admit that she melts and turns into the clumsiest fan girl and that’s not like her at all.

Stepping firmly back onto the wooden dock, she wipes her now sweaty palms against the fabric of her white, blue jean shorts while reaching for her duffle bag that lies by her sandal covered feet, “Okay, you all have your tasks for what we need for the ship so after that it’s whatever until we meet up at the restaurant Tywin wants us to go to for dinner.”

“Yeah, I still don’t get why we have to go to that particular place.” Yara says with a little bit of attitude. She was never the biggest fan of any Lannister, and honestly, no one here would blame her for that.

“He said it was a favor to a friend to bring in more business, not that they need it cause, I looked it up as soon as we had cell service. He’s probably just kissing ass again, but whatever. It’s a free meal regardless and he does pay for all this, so we have an obligation to suck it up and go.”

The team disperses two by two and Arya watches quietly as Gendry and her brother hail a taxi up on the main road, eagerly headed to the nearest hardware store to get what they need to fix the air conditioning no doubt, and then turns to politely decline Mya’s invitation to go grocery shopping with the rest of them, telling her she has a mission of her own to find some more books in relation to the new information they learned on Cat and Clovis’ backgrounds, which isn’t exactly a lie, but it’s not the whole truth either.

She does want to scope out some new books but that’s not the main thing she’s after and if she ran into any of the others on her way, she’d hate to have to admit that she omitted the truth from them.

Gendry especially. She doesn’t want to face him right now considering she’s still super sexually charged after their not so innocent heat wave flirtation, that seems to be way beyond her control.

Yes, they are back on the mainland where the weather has calmed down significantly but if she stops for too long, she’ll start thinking about it again and end up doing something incredibly dumb she knows she’ll end up regretting later, making it weird for them to be around each other. Or maybe she won’t but that’s not her concern right now, she’s close to a breakthrough so this mini mission of hers is pertinent to how she spends her time here.

Headed into town where she believes the person that can help her the most right now does business, she makes sure that none of her other teammates are nearby nor anyone that might recognize her in any way, not that a lot of people would a world away from her homeland, but she can never be too careful in this business.

Arya knows that if word got around to what kind of treasure, they’re after, their entire mission could be at risk of other salvagers invading in on their territory in going after their rightful claim to Cat’s ship. She just hopes they can make a legal claim before gossip begins to spread around these parts.

After walking around the small village of shops and cafes and asking around to all the business owners where these particular rare antiquities dealer resides for over an hour, she’s just about ready to give up on her secret mission altogether.

She only knows the name of the business, so she makes one more attempt at asking the barista if she knows of the place she seeks as she orders her iced coffee and when she gets another no with a sad smile, she simply thanks her and goes about her way, the feeling of failure making its presence known inside her always hopeful mind.

Upon exiting the café and stepping back out in the bright Volantis sunshine, she sips on her drink ever so slowly and contemplates what she should do next.

Arya only gets a few yards away before fate intervenes and as she’s looking down at her cell phone, she runs straight into something rock solid, nearly falling flat on her ass until a pair of strong arms holds her like an anchor.

“Whoa, easy there, Stark.”

She looks up to find Gendry smiling down at her, and she almost drops her coffee all over her feet at the unexpected, albeit always pleasant surprise, “Gendry, what are you doing here?”

She doesn’t need this right now, this distraction. But at the same time, she’s never wanted to get rid of him either, always drawn to being by his side like a moth to a very hot flame. A very _fit_ , very _handsome_ flame. 

“Just wandering around, nothing in particular. What are you doing out here?”

“Nu… nothing.” She takes another sip hoping he doesn’t see right through her, but of course he does. He _always_ does.

“Come on, what are you really doing here?” He’s giving her that look again, like he’s not going to give up until he gets the truth from her so instead of wasting her time trying to convince him to leave her be, she sighs heavily and decides to let him in on what she’s been hiding for the last twenty-four hours.

She grabs him the sleeve of his Henley and laughs as he nearly trips over his own flip-flops as she drags him into the nearest alley corridor for a little bit of privacy, “Fine, but you can’t tell the others until I know for sure that this is a good lead and not a complete waste of time.”

He agrees silently and from the look in his eyes she knows it’s sincere and that she can trust him to keep this to himself until the time comes _if_ that time comes.

She pulls the small brown chest she found buried in the seabed out of her bag and holds it up just enough for him to get a good look before shoving back inside for safe keeping.

“I found it yesterday at the same time Mya found the sword.”

“Ah, so that’s what held your attention. It’s just a box, doesn’t look like it’s worth much.”

“It’s not about the box itself, stupid, it’s about what’s inside the box.”

“So, what’s inside the box?”

“If I knew that, then I wouldn’t be running around here trying to find the one person that I know can open it, now would I?”

“Am I the only one who knows about this?”

“Yeah, and I didn’t tell anyone in case I can’t get it open, because then it’s useless. I did manage to write down the exact location though in case it does turn out to be something.”

“Why wouldn’t you be able to get it open?”

She sighs but knows that it’s not really his fault that she must explain this process to him, “This box has been under the sea for a very long time, once it’s open, oxidization and the bacteria that it’s been covered in for the past two hundred years can possibly ruin the contents inside, so I need to find an expert that deals with this kind of old shit, hence the reason I’m out here.”

He nods along, understanding her reasoning, “And you found someone that can do such a thing?”

“I got the name of his business from Thoros, but I haven’t been able to track down the location yet.”

“Thoros?” He laughs but it holds no humor, “Well there’s your first mistake, trusting that giant lug.”

“Hey, the brotherhood may be a lot of things, but when it comes to this stuff, they always come through, okay?”

He takes a long hard look at her before giving up any argument he may have had waiting on the tip of his tongue, “Fine. You got the name?”

She shows him a text on her phone and then says it out loud, to which Gendry responds with loud, boisterous laughter, “Leave it to Thoros to send you around in circles, because that’s not how you pronounce nor spell that.”

Her eyebrows raise in shock at his statement, “And how would you know that?”

He smiles, that charming, yet smugly handsome smile and her insides melt ever so slightly just like they always do when he does that stupid shit, “Follow me.”

Gendry leads her back down the now familiar paths along the busy town, until they reach a small alleyway that she never came across her first go around and she tries to think of how she could have missed it.

It’s older than the rest and you can tell that it doesn’t get as much life as the other roads and shops do, but it still has its fair share of stragglers, nonetheless.

A couple of people pass by leaving more room for them to walk comfortably next to each other as Gendry leads her to only the Gods know where.

Marveling at the images displayed in a tattoo shop window, she barely notices that Gendry has stopped walking, only meaning that they’ve reached their destination.

“Here, this is probably the place Thoros meant to send you to, only he spelt it wrong in his text message, therefore leading you astray in the pronunciation.”

“Most likely, but that still doesn’t tell me how you knew about this place and where it was?”

He shrugs and sticks his hands in the pocket of his cargo shorts while letting his full weight rest on his heels, “Passed by it on my way into town earlier.”

She narrows her eyes and watches him squirm ever so subtly. One thing she’s learned over the past few months while being in such close quarters with him are his tells, she knows when he’s not being fully honesty.

“You got lost, didn’t you?”

He hangs his head, and she knows, she just _knows_ she’s right and she’s not about to let him live it down either, “Bloody hells, you did!”

She begins to laugh hysterically at his obvious embarrassment considering the fact that just hours earlier he made such a fuss on the ship about not needing help in figuring out where the hardware store was, nor how to get to the restaurant for dinner later, insisting that he could figure it out on his own.

“Doesn’t matter, now are we going to get this guy’s help or not, huh?”

She rolls her eyes and decides to drop it, pushing past him to walk into the rustic shop first, the door chime tinging and alerting anyone inside to their presence.

Upon entering, Arya notices that the store is filled with very old items from all over the world, some with price tags on furniture and old dresser drawers, other more valuable items in locked display cases next to an old desk on the far side of the room where an older man with narrowed rimmed glasses sits inspecting something with a magnifying glass, “I’ll be right with you. Please feel free to look around and make me an offer.”

Despite their wandering eyes, they stay close to each other until the owner finishes his current task and steps around the desk to properly greet them, “Name’s Abe. What can I do for you?”

“I’m Arry and this is my boyfriend. I was wondering if you could help me with an old family heirloom.”

Gendry eyes her skeptically at the boyfriend bit and she thinks for a moment that he’s going to blow their cover, but he doesn’t and instead falls right into it by throwing his arm around her waist, which does nothing but divert her focus from her current task to the feel of his body touching hers.

Shaking off that thought she manages to get the words out, “I can pay you generously for any services or repair work that’s needed.”

The owner, Abe, stares at them for a few seconds before asking for the item in question to which she pulls the small chest out of her bag once more and hands it over to him with bated breath.

“It belonged to my grandmother, she kept it in her saltwater fish tank for years so we always just thought it was merely décor, but then her dementia set in and we started questioning some of the things she would ramble on about.”

Gendry remains quiet and attentive, nodding along to confirm her story as needed, letting her continue without hesitation, “Towards the end she said that the box in the fish tank was very dear to her heart when she was younger and that she always kept her most prized possession inside.”

As Arya goes on with her tall tale, Abe motions for them to take a seat opposite his desk and it doesn’t go unnoticed that Gendry subtly maneuvers his chair her way, “But you know we all thought that was crazy cause who would keep such valuable items inside a saltwater fish tank to possibly be ruined over time, y’know?”

Abe nods as he folds his hands together across a stack of papers on the wooden desk, “And you want to see if maybe she was telling the truth?”

“Exactly! I thought it couldn’t hurt if maybe there was something sentimental in there that would be important to my family. And from what I’ve read up on it, opening such a thing after a significant amount of time in the water could possibly oxidize and damage the contents inside, which is why I needed your help. A friend of a friend told me that you’re good at this kind of thing.”

Gendry and Arya exchange nervous glances as Abe inspects the box further, ultimately determining that he can in fact open it safely and reveal if there’s anything inside.

With a heavy sigh, Arya gives him permission to do whatever needs to be done and is instructed that both her and Gendry wait inside the shop while he goes to work in unlocking and opening the box safely.

Alone for the first time since arriving, Gendry leans over to where Arya is sitting anxiously, “I get why you needed a fake story and all, but why did you need someone else to get the box open, why not just do it back at the boat with all your fancy and probably very expensive equipment?”

Arya chuckles and shakes her head with amusement, “Sometimes I forget that you’re new to all this. This particular process is a tad bit more complicated and we don’t have the equipment needed on the ship, which is why an extra hand is so necessary. If I couldn’t find this guy, which I thankfully did because of you, we wouldn’t have been able to get it open at all. Just would have been wasting away on the bottom of the ocean without never having seen the light of day again.”

“But haven’t you guys found stuff in boxes and chests before?”

“None that were that well preserved and locked, not a single hole in sight which is why we need the special tools.”

“And you really think it’s related to Cat’s ship?”

“Yeah, it has to be. The location and timing of finding it with that sword can’t be just a coincidence.”

Before Gendry can comment further or ask any more questions, Abe returns from a room in the back, box in hand that’s now covered in a distinct chemical odor and thankfully lock free.

“It should be safe now to open without damaging what’s inside, the saltwater didn’t do as much damage as you’d think it would. I thought you would like to do the honors.”

He hands her the chest with a smile, and she can’t help but to return it just as brightly as she sets the box down on the desk slowly, before reaching to prop it open.

As her fingers trace the old wood, she feels Gendry’s hand rest on the small of her back forcing a breath to stall in her chest. Arya flips the top half of the chest upwards, revealing only very old paper inside, folded to fit the very small space perfectly.

As dry as anything in this room, she rubs her hands along the sheets, unfolding them to reveal their worded contents.

“It’s a letter, looks like a few pages probably. Must’ve belonged to your grandmother, dear.”

Arya and Gendry take a quick look at each other as she hurries to fold the paper back in its original state and then shove it back in the box, closing it tightly.

“Thank you so much, Abe. I really appreciate it.”

After paying the man what is owed, she rushes outside with a quick goodbye, not even bothering with polite formalities, she only wants a breath of fresh air and to feel the sun on her face again.

She pushes the box back down to the bottom of her bag and holds it close to her side as she walks a few paces down the alley, feeling a strong arm grab her harshly, “Ow, Gendry, what the fuck?”

Arya whips her head around ready to tear into Gendry for his forcefulness, only it’s not Gendry that grabbed her, but a small old woman with solid white eyes, starting into nothing. How did she even know she was there?

“The connection you have to the past is more powerful than you know, child.”

“What are you talking about? Let go of me!”

She tries to jerk her arm away, but the blind woman is much stronger than she looks, “Through her eyes, you will see the truth.”

_Through her eyes, what the hells is this lady talking about_ , Arya thinks as she struggles to release the woman’s hold on her arm. It’s only when she hears the door to Abe’s shop chime does the grip lesson and in the blink of an eye, the blind lady is nowhere to be seen.

“Arya?”

Seeing Arya so distressed, Gendry rushes to her side as she regains control over her breathing and the swirling confusion in her now aching head. What was that crazy bat going on about? Was she talking about her connection to Cat?

Abe, who walked out with Gendry looks as calm as can be, “Let me guess, creepy blind lady?”

Arya only nods, still unable to find her voice while Abe simply points to the store front, they’re standing outside of with a huge LED sign lighting up the word _psychic_.

“She’s harmless, just likes to get under people’s skin sometimes as a feeble attempt at new business.”

“But her eyes?”

“Contacts, thinks it really sells the whole psychic thing, still blind as a bat though. And a huge pain in my ass.”

Abe shakes his head with a sigh and walks quietly back into his place of business while Gendry asks Arya if she’s okay and what the old lady said to her.

“She just went on about connections and seeing the truth. I thought it was you that grabbed me, where were you?”

“I was getting better contact information from Abe in case we needed to use him again. You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine; let’s just get out of here. I want to get back to the hotel so we can see what’s written in this letter.”

And with that, Gendry, and Arya head away from Abe and the psychic that seemed to know more about this mission than she needed to, and back to normal civilization, with a very important goal in the front of their minds.

************

By the time they get to Arya’s hotel room, they don’t waste a single minute in getting to the reason why they’re there. Gendry secures the locks on the door and then joins Arya on the bed as she pulls the old box out of her shoulder bag and then holds the letter in shaky hands. She’s nervous, for reasons she can’t quite comprehend, but she proceeds nonetheless with inspecting the object that Abe was able to reveal for her and Gendry back at the shop.

“The edges are worn, like it’s been held several times before even going into the box and some parts are unreadable due to what looks like water damage, like it was wet and then dried a few times.”

Gendry holds the utmost composure as she tries and fails to appear as if she’s not high on drugs right now, every inch of her being running a hundred miles a second, “Hey, it’s okay. Just read what you can.”

He gives her a small smile as she forces to return it and begins reading.

“ _To my love, my hero, my…_ ” Arya squints, “I can’t make out what it says there, it’s too worn out, like she traced those words with her fingers more times than she could count.”

“She? You think this was sent to Cat from the Lord?”

“I do, it’s just this feeling I get, I can’t really explain it.”

She knows she sounds absolutely mad as she says it aloud, but she doesn’t care because it’s the truth.

“Maybe what’s written in the letter will explain itself.”

She knows that he means for her to continue, despite having a new intuition about it that she didn’t realize she had.

_“I hope this raven reaches you in good conditions, an old friend who is also native of Flea Bottom has been helping me with my words and writing. I hope this letter sounds more like it’s written by a Lord than a bastard of King’s Landing. But I know you never cared for such formalities.”_

_“It’s been almost a moon since you left King’s landing on high sails, and just as long since the last time I saw your beautiful face. In truth, I’m struggling, more than I thought I would. But not just with my newfound title, but with how much I’m missing you during these difficult times on the stormy shores.”_

“It certainly sounds like it’s written to Cat.”

_“I’m also struggling with my behavior from the last time we were together, without the politics, the night of the feast in your honor.”_

“Definitely.”

_“I regret how I asked you to be mine, words were not my strongest that night after the copious amounts of wine and ale bestowed upon me by the lords and ladies of the North and everyone who fought hard in the battle of our lives. What I do not regret, however, are the words I spoke to you that night of how I truly feel about you.”_

They exchange a quick glance, before both sets of eyes go back to the paper in her hands.

_“I wish I would have said things differently, but it remains true, I love you and none of this matters to me without you here. I know you’ve never been a lady and I would never want you to change for me as I love you exactly the way you are. Brave, fearless, and absolutely beautiful in every way…”_

“That sentence cuts off from the few smears on the paper,” Arya says before continuing on without much pause.

_“I never wanted to force you into a role that’s the exact opposite of what you truly are, I simply only wanted you by my side through it all, no matter what. In truth, I wouldn’t give two fucks about what these highborns would deem appropriate for their new Lord, I’d still smith, and you would still put all of these soldiers flat on their asses.”_

_“Please, you have to understand that…”_

There’s another smear at the bottom of the page where the sentence remains unreadable as Arya flips to the second sheet of paper where the letter continues much the same with more smears and more incomprehensible words.

_“Perhaps after your western adventure is over, you will consider visiting an old friend in the Stormlands. He’ll be the only Lord on the East coast of Westeros without having taken a wife, for his heart now and will always belong to the bringer of Dawn in the hopes that she’ll be in his arms once again before this life is over.”_

Arya swipes at a stray tear falling down her cheek before trying to decipher how the Lord signed the letter since most of the ending is unreadable as well as some parts of the letter itself.

_“Forever your bastard and best friend, …. Waters.”_

She holds the second page up for Gendry to read, “That says Waters, right? I can’t read his first name, but that surname is definitely Waters, right?”

“That’s what it says. Most likely the name he was given as a bastard. Much better than Clovis, which I think is made up because even smeared I can tell that doesn’t say Clovis.”

Another tear escapes her sad grey eyes and as it falls down on her thigh, she realizes something important.

“Gendry, look. These stains on the paper, they’re teardrops.”

“Makes sense, wet and then dry again. Probably read more than once while she had it.”

She feels him watching her as she pours through a few different things in her mind, “So, her Bastard went by ‘Waters’ and he sent her a raven with this letter sometime before the Nymeria crashed somewhere out there.”

She smiles and laughs softly to herself, causing Gendry to ask her what she’s thinking, “People cry for a lot of different reasons, but if she cried when she got this it most likely confirms that she still loved him too. Maybe she did leave him, but that never meant that she didn’t love him back. I just hope he knew that in the end.”

“Maybe there’s another letter out there somewhere of her writing back to him.” Gendry says with a soft sort of conviction that he hopes is true.

She deposits the letter back into the box and looks up when he finishes with, “But I think he knew. A love that strong? It’s something that doesn’t have to be said aloud, it just is.”

He holds her gaze and she feel her heart thump in her ribcage at the blue in his eyes, swirling with contentment and a lot of adoration that has her blushing softly, her cheeks warming up exponentially.

“Come on, we should get ready for dinner.”

It’s an excuse to end the moment and they both know it, but in truth, she could stay here and do absolutely nothing for the rest of the night with him and be perfectly happy.

They do need to eat, and it will be the perfect opportunity to sit down with the team as a whole and reveal the letter they found.

But in a city like Volantis, getting this group together to take a break is easier said than done.

************

Since Arya hadn’t heard anything from any of her friends after her and Gendry parted ways nearly two hours ago, she figures that the only thing she can do at this point is just meet them all at the restaurant Tywin made them reservations for.

And since things like this are typical in their own right from her unofficial boss, she always makes sure to pack her favorite dresses for these kinds of occasions and when Tywin had informed her of tonight’s event, she was a little excited to get a chance to break out her newest outfit that her and Shireen had picked out before this trip had even started.

Clad in a dark peach spaghetti V-shaped around her breasts strap dress that reaches her mid-thigh and a pair of simple pumps that are almost the same exact color (Shireen insists it’s the exact same, although Arya argued they are a slight shade off) she steps out of the cab and pulls the hair of her ponytail around to rest on her shoulder, her eye lids sparkling with glittery orange eyeshadow over hopeful grey eyes.

She’s not sure what it is about this night, but she’s excited in a way she just can’t explain.

It could be the letter they found, a hopeful new lead, or it could be something else entirely. Only time will tell she supposes.

Arya marvels at the beauty of the outside restaurant and dance floor as she walks up to the hostess’ stand slowly, while looking past the polite looking brunette to see if anyone else had arrived before her.

“Do you have a reservation, love?”

“Yes, a table for seven under Tywin Lannister.”

Arya watches as the woman’s eyes open a little bit wider when she mentions Tywin, a look she knows well. It’s a look of being impressed at the same time you’re a little bit fearful.

“Of course, it’s always a pleasure to have any friends of Mr. Lannister here with us, just let me know when at least half of your party arrives, and we’ll get the best table set up for you right away.”

Arya thanks her and then steps out of the way for other guests to be seated as she pulls her cell phone out of her bag and checks to see that she has zero messages or missed calls.

_Surely, they wouldn’t just bail on me_ , she thinks to herself as she puts her phone back in her bag and waits patiently for another familiar face to wait with her.

She doesn’t have to wait very long for it’s less than 7 minutes before the first person in her dinner party arrives, and the mere sight of him has her holding her breath.

Arya sees him before he sees her, wearing a brand-new suit, dark grey slacks with a white button up that’s undone about three buttons down with a loose collar underneath a matching grey jacket, his hair slightly disheveled from the summer breeze.

She can feel her insides coming apart as he spots her waiting and gives her the most gorgeous grin she’s ever seen. _Fuck some Baratheon genes_ , she thinks to herself as she subtly closes her legs together as much as she can without making it obvious that he’s doing very bad things to her body by merely existing.

He comes to a stop about three feet away as he eyes her from bottom to top, his own blue irises stopping at her lips before making direct eye contact once again, “You look…”

He can’t find the words and she knows the feeling very well, “Thanks, so do you.”

He breaks her gaze and awkwardly clears his throat to ease the obvious tension, “So I have some bad news, and then some more bad news.”

She sighs as she tells him to get on with it.

“Hot Pie texted me a little bit ago and said he found this cooking convention with this extremely famous chef that’s happening tonight and that there was no way he was passing it up.”

“Okay, and the other, more bad news?”

“He said that Yara and Rickon are going with him once they found out that the convention has unlimited samples to try and an open bar.”

She laughs but it’s filled more with sarcasm and amusement than humor, “Of course they did. Never mind unlimited food and drinks here, they’d just rather be with a more laid-back crowd than in a place like this.” She shrugs her shoulders, not surprised at all by the change of company, “I get it.”

“I texted Mya about it but haven’t heard anything yet.”

As a couple’s name is called that were sitting on a nearby bench, they take the opportunity to sit down and wait for Mya and Missandei to show, “You can admit it you know.”

He looks genuinely shocked, “Admit what?”

“That you thought about ditching this dinner to go hang out with my brother and your roommate.”

He smiles and looks down for a brief second, “And what? Miss the chance to see you looking like this, no way.”

Before she gets the chance to respond, his phone chimes with a new message, most likely from Mya.

Gendry sighs heavily before typing out a response, “What is it?”

“Apparently they’re not coming either. Mya found a nightclub that she’s dragging Missandei to, so it looks like we’re on our own.”

“Why do I get the feeling that Mya only planned that after she found out the others weren’t coming, knowing that it would leave just the two of us alone?”

He looks a little defeated and she thinks that maybe she said the wrong thing when he says, “We don’t have to do this? If you’d rather be with…”

She stops him mid-sentence, “No, Gendry. It’s fine, I promise. I have to be here because Tywin insisted, and honestly, there’s no reason for you to stick around too if you want to go join the guys at the convention or your sister at the club, I really don’t mind. You don’t have to stay on my account.”

He remains passive and for a second she thinks that maybe she will be eating alone, but then he smiles, and her breath stops once again, “Forget it, I’m not letting you have dinner by yourself. Plus, you’re going to need at least one other testimony for Tywin, right?”

She doesn’t argue the matter further or convince him that she’ll be fine on her own for two reasons. One, he’s right. Having another person from their team here will help with Tywin and two, she is excited at the fact that it’ll be just the two of them here. She likes getting to know him better one on one, especially in social situations where he tries, and fails hard at pretending like he wouldn’t rather be anywhere else.

She squeezes his hands that are rested together in his lap softly before standing up swiftly and motioning towards the hostess stand, “Shall we?”

Her heart beats erratically in her chest as she leads the way, wondering what the hells she just got herself into.

“Change of plans, that table for seven under Lannister is now a table for two.”

The pretty brunette eyes the pair of them with a smile before typing something into her iPad and gestures for them to follow her into the main area with tables, a fully stocked bar, and plenty of open space on the dance floor, minus the few straggling couples already dancing.

With soft lights strung above, accompanied by the soft glow of the sunset behind them, it really is the most picturesque romantic evening, perfect for long time anniversaries or memorable first dates.

They’re sat at a table surrounded by other tables with happy couples, the amount of love between them disgustingly obvious, with the dance floor to their left and the bar just behind that, “Where’d you get the suit?”

“Picked it up before I ran into you in town today, knew anything I had packed wouldn’t be worthy enough.”

“Couldn’t spring for the matching tie on a mechanic’s salary?”

She can’t help it, teasing him has become her favorite thing to do. And he makes it so damn easy.

“I could afford the tie, just couldn’t figure out how to get the fucker on right.” She laughs, and his face turns to fear, “Why? Does it look stupid without it? Should I go back to the…”

“Gendry, stop. You look perfect.”

Her blood stalls in her veins as soon as she says it and she stammers out a dignified justification, “I uh, I just mean you look fine, okay, so stop worrying and just look at the menu, will ya?”

He doesn’t say anything, but the smirk he wears from the behind the lamination of the food and drink choices says it all.

This is all too much, he’s too much. She needs some air, which is rich considering the fact they’re already outside.

“I’ll be right back,” she says as she grabs her bag and heads straight for the ladies’ room, hoping some distance from him will help her calm down her raging nerves and hormones. Damn him for looking so good in a suit.

There’s only other person in the washroom when she enters, a beautiful blonde at the sink re-applying a light shade of pink lipstick. Arya heads straight for the paper towels, pulling down just enough to make a damp cloth that she can apply to the back of her neck and inflamed cheeks.

As she applies the moisture to the nape of her neck, she turns around and leans back against the counter while closing her eyes in quiet meditation.

It’s only when the blonde speaks, does she open her eyes, bringing her mind back to the present, “Bad first date?”

Before answering, she takes a good look at the blonde woman with the soft blue eyes next to her. She’s tall and slender wearing a white cocktail dress with heels, her toned legs going on for days. She’s remarkably pretty and something about her soft nature as she speaks has Arya instantly calming down, like just this woman’s presence alone can have that effect on the people around her.

“Uh, no. Not really. It’s uh, complicated.”

How else would she explain her relationship with Gendry? She’s never had to.

She smiles in response as she pulls out a tin of breath mints and hands Arya one, “Here. Take this, and remember that you are a beautiful, strong woman and no man could ever change that.”

She pops the mint in her mouth and throws away the towel, “Thanks.”

The blonde pockets her lipstick and heads for the door, “Good luck with your _complication_.”

She winks and then disappears, leaving Arya alone for the first time since arriving.

Something about her confidence has Arya lifting her shoulders with a newfound sense of self-assurance. Yes, Gendry may be out there waiting for her looking like a whole damn meal, but that doesn’t mean she has to melt like a little schoolgirl in front of him. That excitement she felt earlier, that can go two ways, so the fact that Gendry is out there probably just as nervous as she is, has her relaxing at the fact that the playing field is a little more even.

If anyone is going to be squirming, it’s going to be him. She doesn’t know what’s going to happen, but she does know that whatever does, she’ll just go with the flow. The same way she handles things on her diving expeditions, she goes where the water takes her.

The more she thinks about it, the more she realizes that this is exactly what Mya had in mind when she and Missandei ditched them both and she’s not sure yet if that’s a good or a bad thing.

Arya straightens out her dress and tightens her hair before heading back out to where Gendry is waiting for her, the number of guests and couples on the dancefloor having almost doubled in the short time that she was gone.

As soon as she sits downs and scoots her chair up to the table properly, Gendry stiffens and then lets out a mumbled _fuck_ under his breath.

“What is it?” He’s paler than before and clearly nervous about something, or maybe someone he can see that she can’t.

“Jeyne’s here.”

Arya sighs heavily, “For the love of my sanity, please tell me that Jeyne Poole is not here right now.”

Gendry’s attention diverts from behind her to the look on her face, his face scrunching in momentary confusion, “What? No.”

Arya relaxes slightly, but she still doesn’t understand what’s going on, “Jeyne Westerling?”

“For fuck’s sake, how many Jeyne’s are there in Westeros?”

Arya says nothing, trying to figure out if his question was rhetorical or not.

“No, it’s Jeyne Heddle, my ex-girlfriend.”

As her mouth goes from a thin line to a distinct o shape, she watches as Gendry tries to focus his eyes on the menu to keep from watching the woman from across the room.

“Don’t turn around, I’d rather not draw attention and have her notice me.”

The lump in Arya’s throat drops from nearly coming out of her mouth, down to the pit of her stomach.

The last thing she expected for tonight was to have Gendry’s ex show up here out of all people and all places, a world away from home.

But if he doesn’t want to see her, or her him, then that’s perfectly fine, but that doesn’t stop her curiosity from getting the better of her.

“Is this the girl that you got your diving certificate for, for a holiday that you never went on?”

He doesn’t move his eyes from the words in front of him, “That’s the one.”

Before she can say anything else on the matter or even ask him anymore questions about her, not that she’s dying to know anyway, he looks up, back in the direction he was before, “She’s gone.”

Arya smiles shyly, “Okay.”

He returns it, looking visibly relaxed, “Okay.”

As they wait for their waitress to come take their order, they talk about the letter and Abe, knowing they may be able to use his skills in the future.

“But how weird was that psychic though? She really freaked me out.”

“I never saw her, even before we went into Abe’s shop. Do you really think there’s any truth into what she said to you?”

Arya sits back in her chair and adjusts the strap on her dress feeling it begin to slide downwards, “I don’t know, maybe. It’ll all just happened so fast. One minute she was there saying these things and then the next she was gone.”

He doesn’t dwell on it and for that, she’s glad.

“They’re busy, I’m gonna just go to the bar to get drinks while we wait.”

Gendry tells her what he wants and then she leaves him sitting alone at the table for the second time that night, hoping it will be the last. It’s not her fault though, and he knows how she can’t sit still for very long.

As she waits for the bartender to make their drink order, she taps her fingernails along to the beat of the music against the bar top, a familiar voice stopping all movement, “Arya?”

She drops her head and says, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

She turns around to find Aegon Targaryen smirking back at her, “Afraid not. It’s good to see you, Arya.”

“I wish I could say the same, but I can’t, because I don’t care to be seeing you right now. Nor do I care what you’re doing in Essos.”

“I suppose that’s fair, after how we left things.”

“You mean how I left you in that bed for all the world to see?” She finally turns back to face him fully, “Do you even feel guilty for how you betrayed me when you cheated?”

“Guilt is a useless emotion, Arya. I did what I did, no use in feeling any way about it now.”

Aegon is handed his drink first by the bar keep, therefore leaving him no good reason to be standing here talking to her, “It really is good to see you, Arya. You look good, very good.”

He eyes her up and down and the way it has her skin crawling makes her wish he would turn around and just disappear off the face of the planet.

As he walks away, she lets out a distinguished _ugh_ sound, prompting laughter from the older man sitting on her other side with who she assumes is his wife. Finally, her and Gendry’s drinks are done, and she makes her way back to their table, unsure of whether or not she should tell him that she ran into Aegon at the bar.

But at the same time, if he appears again for any reason, Gendry needs to know, “You’ll never guess who I saw at the bar.”

“Abe from the antiques shop?”

“Hells, I wish. He’d be a much more pleasant sight than Aegon.”

“Aegon? As in the guy that cheated on you and you tied naked to a bed frame, Aegon?”

She repeats his words from before, “That’s the one.”

Realizing the coincidence that’s probably not just a coincidence, Gendry voices exactly what she’s thinking, “Wait, you don’t think?”

“I don’t see him so he must be somewhere on the other side of the restaurant behind me.”

“I see Jeyne over there too.”

“Okay, I’m going to turn around on the count of three, and we’ll both point them out, alright? But be subtle about it.”

Gendry nods as they both count down from three to one right before Arya subtly turns around and sees Aegon with…

_“Is that her?” “Is that him?”_ They speak at the same time, neither having the patience about any of this nonsense. 

Arya immediately spots her ex and his lazy mop of blonde hair with the same blonde woman she met in the ladies’ room earlier that night.

“That’s Jeyne over there in the white dress.”

“And that’s Aegon sitting with her.”

This is definitely not how she thought this night would go. For one, running into Aegon is the last thing she ever wanted to happen, and two, she liked the girl she met before, not knowing it was Gendry’s ex, and now that she does know, she can’t get the image of the two of them together out of her mind, making her insides curl with an unease she’s never felt before.

Arya turns back around while Gendry continues to watch them under the rim of his glass, “They’re getting up and dancing, haven’t noticed us over here.”

He sets his drink down and looks back at her, “But then again, she doesn’t know I’m here, but he knows you are, so it’s only a matter of time.”

Arya laughs, a little louder than intended and with very little humor, “What are the odds? That both of our exes are here tonight, together.”

Gendry smiles and it’s more genuine than she would have thought, “Mya is going to be fucking pissed when she finds out she missed this.”

Too busy laughing at that fact since they both know it’s more than true; they completely miss when Jeyne and Aegon, hand in hand, walk straight to their table from the dance floor, not even having finished the whole song.

“Gendry? Is that really you?”

Arya cringes as Jeyne smiles at him and Gendry smiles just as politely back.

“Arya. I knew it was only a matter of time before I ran into you again tonight.”

Jeyne looks at her date with confusion on her pretty features, “Wait? You know her?”

“And you obviously know him. Baratheon is it?” Aegon holds out a hand for Gendry to shake and he does, but with a clenched jaw and a little bit of that signature fury in his eyes making Arya’s heart drop substantially at the fact that it’s most likely generated from him currently involved with his former girlfriend, “J’s told me a lot about you.”

Arya watches from the corner of her eye as Gendry flexes the muscles in the hand, he used to shake her exes, “Arya’s told me about you as well. All bad things of course.”

Aegon laughs while Jeyne looks visibly uncomfortable, “I wouldn’t expect anything else. Rare to see someone talk positively about their ex, apart from you of course, Jeyne always spoke very highly of you.”

Jeyne, ever so gentle and bright, tries to diffuse the tension from escalating further, “So how long have you two been together?”

Arya’s eyes widen subtly as she and Jeyne exchange a look, no doubt thinking about their short conversation earlier that evening in the ladies’ room.

Arya tilts her head and looks to Gendry for the answer as they share a silent conversation despite the prying eyes watching them, deciding unanimously to keep up their façade from earlier in the day, going along with the boyfriend/girlfriend rouse, “A few months, but it’s been really great. Feels like even longer.”

Gendry smiles and takes her hand that’s resting on the table, giving it a small squeeze with a tight-lipped smile, but the truth is in his eyes and in every word he speaks.

They hold each other’s gaze for a few moments too long when Jeyne ultimately decides that it’s time to leave them alone and part ways, “Well, it was good to see you again Gendry, and nice to meet you Arya. You two have a good night.”

She pulls Aegon away before he can say anything clever or impulsive, and for that, she’s thankful.

It’s not until after they order does she realize they’re still holding hands, but it doesn’t matter because they have a show to put on and the small gesture is as easy as breathing for her, and she suspects it’s the same for Gendry by how relaxed he looks.

Another thing that’s surprising her is how he doesn’t seem to be out of place or looking like he wants to run away from all socialism tonight.

They laugh and they drink, and they share a few flirtatious remarks and whispered words and it’s all so surreal that she can’t even believe it’s happening.

She also can’t believe how easy it’s been for them to get caught up in the charade that she almost forgets it’s all for show. That is until she sees Gendry’s eyes catch Aegon’s in a dark shade of hatred from across the room while they eat, and it’s then does the deflation in her heart snap her back to reality.

************

When Gendry completed his task of buying what he needed for the boat at the hardware store, his intention was to wander around town, find a decent suit to wear at dinner and maybe hit up a pub and watch whatever current sports were playing, but how he actually ended up spending his afternoon, was much, much better because he got to spend it with his best friend and unlock another mystery in the story behind the treasure they’re searching for.

He’s not ashamed to admit that he had a little fun in Abe’s shop pretending to be the doting boyfriend of the customer seeking out Abe’s help, but then he got a little nervous for Arya’s safety and sanity after that whole psychic incident. After that, all he wanted to do was get Arya out of the public and into the safe confides of her hotel room where they got to read the contents of Cat’s letter.

Another piece to the puzzle solved. Cat’s lover was a bastard of the name Waters, and the feelings they shared were mutual all the way to the bitter end. The tear stains on the paper proved just that and he can’t wait for the day they get back out there to find more clues to this mystery.

The night took a surprisingly pleasant turn when Gendry showed up to the restaurant and realized he would be spending a romantic evening alone with Arya, something he didn’t know he really wanted until it was presented to him on a silver platter.

He’s always known that fate has a funny and cruel way of intervening and when Arya came back from the bar and told him that her cheating scumbag ex-boyfriend was there, he knew that the nice night would eventually turn into something entirely different altogether.

And then it turned out that Jeyne was Aegon’s date, and well that was just downright laughable in his mind. What else could possibly go wrong was all he could think about after Jeyne and Aegon walked away, leaving them to play the happy new couple they were supposed to be.

As they laugh and drink, he’s finding that it’s not all that hard to pretend to be her boyfriend after all, being with Arya in that way is the easiest thing he’s done in months. And what’s scaring him more than he realized it could is, the fact that he doesn’t really want it to stop.

The waitress takes away their empty plates and asks them if they’d like dessert to which Arya agrees with adorable enthusiasm, prompting him to not be able to keep his eyes off her as she looks over the menu and then tells the woman what she’d like.

She catches him staring when the waitress walks away, “What?”

“Nothing, I just find you obsessively adorable.” He says with a genuine, heart crushing smile. He doesn’t know where the blatant candor is coming from, it’s as if his brain has switched off any filter that would keep him from speaking anything but the absolute truth.

“Well why don’t you take your obsessively adorable girlfriend out on the dance floor while she waits for her cheesecake.” Arya holds out her hand as if she’s a fair maiden waiting to be whisked away by her handsome prince.

A new slow-paced song begins to play as they walk hand in hand out onto the dance floor, her heels making it effortless to hold her close to his chest as they sway along to the rhythm of the music.

**_“When the rain is blowing in your face, and the whole world is on your case, I could offer you a warm embrace, to make you feel my love.”_ **

As they dance, he catches Aegon’s eye more than a few times from where he and Jeyne sit, and he can feel his jaw twitching with unreleased anger itching to be put to good use. He can always feel Arya watching him and wondering where his thoughts are, but she gives that up in opts for resting her head against his chest, fitting snug under his chin.

He knows by the sound of her soft breathing and the beating of her heart that she has her eyes closed, living in the moment as they dance in the middle of a crowded restaurant, “You know, I almost thought this was a real date.”

Lost in the time spent dancing, it takes her a few beats to reply.

**_“The storms are raging on the rolling sea, and on the highway of regret. The winds of change are blowing wild and free, you ain’t seen nothing like me yet.”_ **

“Almost? What’s keeping you remembering that it’s not?” She looks up at him as she speaks, their faces just a breath apart as they dance, her right hand in his left, his right resting on the small of her back keeping her as close to him as he can.

And here he goes again with the honesty, leaning in to whisper in her ear, “Because if this were a real date and you were mine, you wouldn’t have last five minutes in that dress. And we certainly wouldn’t have stayed for every course of this meal.”

**_“I could make you happy, make your dreams come true. Nothing that I wouldn’t do, go to the ends of the Earth for you, to make you feel my love.”_ **

If she’s at all disturbed or uncomfortable with that sentiment, she doesn’t let it show as she leans back to stare directly into his ocean blue eyes, the swirl of her grey eyes storming like the hurricane that hit them just a few days ago.

And as her eyes travel from his down to his lips, he takes the chance and pulls her in just a little bit closer, close enough to let his lips brush against hers, but when the song ends and the crowd claps for the band that’s playing, the spell is broken, and she pulls away from his embrace to smile and return the gesture of approval with the other guests of the evening.

A new song starts and once again, they resume their earlier position, only this time with a bit more space as Gendry makes a show to make this one as memorable as he can. He wants tonight to fill Arya’s mind with happy thoughts of him and not unpleasant thoughts of her ex-boyfriend.

He knows the first few seconds of this song are slow, but that doesn’t stop him from spinning her into a twist and then back out again, just for dramatic effect.

“I didn’t know you can dance this well, Baratheon. You really are full of so many wonders.”

For him to concentrate on the moves he hasn’t practiced in years, he really needs to be able to concentrate properly, otherwise they’ll both end up looking like fools in a room full of strangers, and both of their ex-lovers.

“Arya? Stop talking.”

The beat drops and he spins her again to the three drum sound, only different this time, keeping up with the rhythm of the song, smiling as her dress and hair sway with the movement as he pulls her back into his arms. 

**_“And if your heart wears thin, I will hold you up. And I will hide you, when it gets too much, I’ll be right beside you.”_ **

They’re completely lost in each other as they make a show of the dance, feeling other people step out of their way so that they have more room, and all he can see is her. Arya.

She smiles so brightly, as if she can’t help the overwhelming feeling of happiness and he thinks that perhaps his face looks quite the same in that moment.

Spins, twirls, dips, and feet moving in perfect synchronization, it’s like they’re two halves of a whole, like the attracting ends of a magnet meant to always come back to the other.

**_“When you try to speak, but you make no sound. And the words you want are out of reach, but they've never been so loud…”_ **

He’s danced like this before with other partners, but never one like Arya. So perfect, so pure, so sweet.

As they dance, he keeps his eyes on hers, letting every feeling, every emotion he’s ever had towards her pour out of his body and into the song, silently letting her know that every word that’s sang rings true to how he feels about her.

**_“Trust in me, trust in me, don’t pull away. Just trust me, trust me, cause I’m just trying to keep it together cause, I could do worse and you could do better.”_ **

As the song begins its ending, he takes a brief second to look around long enough to see the eyes watching, including Jeyne, who looks like she’s watching a romance movie, and Aegon who looks as if he’s bored out of his mind.

**_“I’ll be right beside you; nobody will break you.”_ **

The music fades out as Arya holds her arms on either side of his face, her hands resting at the nape of his neck and his on her lower back as their foreheads meet and eyes close, hot breath mixing in with the others. 

It’s only when that familiar clapping erupts does he fall back down to Earth and opens his eyes to give their spectators a shy nod of acknowledgment, as does Arya.

They’re still holding onto the other as the crowd disperses and the band announces a quick break, prompting the room to fill with happy chatter.

He watches Arya as her hands drop to his chest and she looks just over his shoulder, presumably towards where Aegon and Jeyne are sitting.

“They’re still watching us you know.”

He doesn’t respond, wondering why she’s telling him that when he could care less. But it seems as if she does, “Kiss me.”

“What?” Not that he doesn’t want to kiss her, it’s just a request that literally came from nowhere.

And he thinks it has everything to do with the prying eyes, whether from jealousy or something else he’s not entirely sure, but he does know exactly what he needs to do in response.

He takes her face in his hands, prompting her to divert her eyes from behind him, to stare deep into his own and what he does next has her catching her breath.

Instead of tracing his lips against her own, he kisses her fiercely on her forehead, feeling her breathe out a soft sigh, “As tempting as that is, I am afraid I must refuse, love. I’m not sure where that command came from, Stark, but I do know this. The next time I kiss you will be because you ask me to as _you_ , and not as something you’re not because we need to put on a show for our ex-partners. It’s going to be real, trust in that.”

She simply stares at him with gentle eyes and slightly parted lips, causing him to trace them with his fingers before grabbing her by the hand, leading her off the dance floor, “Come on, I believe you have dessert waiting to be devoured.”

On the walk back over to their table, it takes everything in him to not let her see how fucking scared out of his skull he is right now at everything that’s happened between them tonight, and how disappointed he is at the fact that she didn’t take the opportunity he was giving her and convince him that she wanted him to kiss her right then and there as anything but Arya Stark, his best friend.

But the night isn’t over yet and he still has time to change his own fate.

************

If only for a night, Arya let herself be carefree in thinking that her and Gendry could actually be a normal couple, out enjoying a romantic evening together, despite the awkwardness that their exes brought to the table.

And when they danced together, it was like everything else just faded into darkness and the two of them were the only ones that existed. The flirting was effortless, the conversation and the small little gestures of affection were so easy and natural, even if people knew it was fake, they would think they were lying as if it were the realest thing in the world.

She’s such a fool, she should have known better than to think that pretending to be a couple wouldn’t have lasting repercussions they’d have to deal with later.

She eats her dessert slowly, partly due to not wanting a reason for them to continue conversing and partly due to the fact that she also doesn’t want the night to end just yet.

Arya’s never been so torn about these new feelings they have evoked in each other that could be so easy to give into and keeping things the way, they were before today ever happened. Teammates and friends, nothing more.

As she pushes the fork around on her plate, she speaks for the first time since they sat back down, pushing Gendry to reassure his attention to her, “So are you going to tell me where you learned to dance like that?”

He’s surprised by the question, that much she can tell, but he’s also battling with the answer in his head, as if it’s something he’d rather not talk about, and yet agreeing to indulge her anyways, “My mom was a dancer, it was something she was always so passionate about, so she taught me and after she died, I kept up the lessons as a way to be closer to her.”

“That’s really sweet, Gendry. And they definitely paid off, that’s for sure.”

She pushes the plate away, not wanting to eat another bite and she knows that he can sense her hesitation, “How about another drink?”

She smiles and nods shyly and watches as he walks towards the bar, but then her attention focuses on Jeyne getting ready to leave the restaurant while Aegon talks to people she doesn’t recognize, and she guesses neither does his date.

She chews on her bottom lip as she weighs what she wants to do back and forth in her head and she knows that if she doesn’t decide in the next two seconds, the opportunity will be gone forever.

Arya jumps up from the table and hurries to catch Jeyne before she slips away, “Jeyne? Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure.” She smiles brightly and for a second she debates on just saying fuck it and going back to the table. How could she ever compete with a girl like this? Her exact opposite in so many ways. Gendry obviously saw something in her so why would he ever consider Arya as an equal to Jeyne even for a second? So sweet and innocent and kind.

“Look, I know I shouldn’t pry into other people’s relationships, but I was with Aegon for a long time so I just thought you should know what he’s really like.”

“I know, Arya. He told me what he did and how you reacted to it. So, believe me when I tell you that I know what I got myself into, and while we haven’t been together that long, Aegon has been nothing but good to me. It’s hard to believe that people like that can change, but I’d like to believe they can so I’m giving him a chance to prove that.”

Arya grabs her by the hand and gives it a gentle squeeze, “Just be careful with him okay, I’d hate for him to hurt you too.”

“I appreciate that Arya. And be careful with Gendry too, not that I’d think he’d hurt you, but rather you hurt him. He deserves someone that’s going to be good for him. I don’t want to see him get hurt either.”

“I’m not exactly sure what happened between you two, but it seems like every time it comes up, I don’t know, it just seems like something that sticks with him you know?”

“Gendry and I didn’t work because it wasn’t meant to work. I think towards the end he felt like I was trying to change him, and if you really know him then you know what I mean. It’s not that I wanted him to go out and enjoy the things I did, the social events and parties, I just wanted him to _want_ to make an effort, for _me_. In the end I just realized that there were too many differences between us.”

She understands, she truly does. She could see exactly what Gendry was like in social circles the first time she ever met him. Maybe she is more his type than she initially thought when comparing herself to Jeyne Heddle.

Jeyne drops Arya’s hand and turns to leave before stopping to give her one last piece of advice, “Don’t break his heart.”

Arya’s taken back by that and for good reason, “It’s not mine to break, Gendry and I, we’re….”

Jeyne completes the sentence for her with a smile, “Complicated? I don’t think it’s as complicated as you think it is. I thought I broke his heart, but then I saw the way he looks at you. He’s never looked at me like that, Arya. So, it might be a little more yours than you thought, just keep that in mind going forward.”

Nodding in agreement is the only thing she can do, too stunned to do anything else except force her feet to walk back to the table without tripping flat on her ass.

She sees him waiting for her at their table and questions the conversation she just had with his ex, “I thought I should warn her about how slimy Aegon is, but it turns out she already knew and is giving him the benefit of the doubt.”

She shrugs nonchalantly, trying to end that topic for fear of bringing up the latter of that conversation as she sips eagerly on the new drink, he brought back from the bar for her.

If he doesn’t say something soon, she’s going to lose it, the silence and staring is too much for her to handle, and thankfully he does, and it’s not about feelings or kissing or ex relationships but rather the story and the happy ending they seek.

“You know when we first started out with this mission, I thought that treasure hunting and all that was just legends and myths, I didn’t think it would be this exhilarating, I mean we’re not just looking for gold and jewels, there’s a story out there that needs telling and we’re finding it.”

He has this giddy, child-like smile on his face and she knows exactly how he feels, “It’s crazy, right? People think that we just do this for the cut Tywin gives us, that it’s all about the money but it’s not. It’s the adventure and the thrill of the hunt and the story-telling.”

She vaguely registers a familiar tune begin to play from the band as he asks her a question, she’s never really asked herself, “Do you think we’re like them? Like Cat and Waters? Destined for history to repeat itself?”

That’s one part of the story she hasn’t allowed herself to really dwell on.

Arya sighs and rests her hand under her chin, the other one holding the stem of her wineglass, “You mean destined to fall in love and then end tragically with me leaving you?”

He doesn’t respond, merely waiting on a real answer from her, “I really don’t know. Is it weird that we have this connection to these people? Yes, it’s very strange, but I don’t necessarily think we’re fated to end up like them. I think that we’re our own people and we make our own choices.” She pauses a moment and then sighs heavily before continuing, “I just… I don’t know. I think whatever happens is meant to happen. What do you think?”

The look on his face, the sincerity, the adoration has her holding her breath, “I think that I wouldn’t be able to handle it if you ever left me like that. You know, if say we are them reincarnated or whatever Rickon goes on about. I think that I would do everything in my power to make sure you knew how much I loved you, that nothing could ever change that and that you stayed with me forever.”

It’s then, staring into his eyes does she finally hear the lyrics ringing in her ears, **_“It’s a terrible love and I’m walking with spiders. It’s a terrible love and I’m walking in.”_ **

Her heart hammers inside her ribcage, threatening to come undone at any given moment as they continue to hold each other’s gaze, the music the only noise between them as the tension intensifies.

**_“It takes an ocean not to break.”_ **

She doesn’t know how she knows it, but she knows that he’s not just talking hypothetically anymore, and she can feel the tears stinging behind her eyes, ready to burst at his theoretical confession of devotion, something she so desperately wants to return. She has to know, she needs to hear it from him. 

“What’s happening here, Gendry? With us?”

**_“It’s quiet company.”_ **

He’s as calm as still water, and her insides are a raging fire, “You tell me.”

He’s waiting for her to say something, to tell him what it or isn’t changing between them, or maybe just to call him an idiot, anything. But she can’t, her voice no longer works, only the voice in her head that’s screaming to stop all of this before she does break his heart. It’s a dangerous path they’ve found themselves walking towards and she knows herself better than anyone. Arya knows that if she gives in, if she chooses to take that chance, to make that leap, she’ll only end up hurting them both. She’s done it before, and she’ll do it again.

So, she does the only thing she knows how to do, she saves him, and herself from that unbearable, yet undeniable heartache that’s sure to come if either of them gives in first.

“Goodnight, Gendry.” She says it so softly, so quickly that she thinks that perhaps he didn’t hear but when she stands up to leave, he stands with her, holding out his hand as if he’s going to stop her but waiting for her to stop herself, he’s waiting for her to change her mind.

She’ll never forget the look on his face when she walks away without another word, the shock and confusion, but it’s for the best. Better to sabotage things now before they get worse and they get to a point they can’t come back from. She’d rather be there for him as his best friend then not have the strength to be in his life at all if she ever hurt him like she knows she will.

What hurts the most through it all? She wasn’t just telling him to kiss her because it was all an act, a façade they needed to keep up appearances with. She wanted him to kiss her more than she’s wanted anything else in a very long time.

And when he refused because he wanted the circumstances to be different? Well that just gave her further proof that his heart is too good for her and if it were ever hers, she’d shatter it for sure.

Only now it’s her heart that’s shattered.

As she walks across the crowded restaurant, she knows he’s still standing there with disappointment across his face, watching her walk away and not being able to do anything about it.

She’s half hoping he runs after her, but when she finally reaches the softly lit alleyway that leads back to their hotel and he’s not behind her, she sighs with sad relief and finally lets the tears fall in peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for a new name for Clovis. And I'm sorry, okay. But I promise good things are coming. This is just the setup.


End file.
